


Unexpected Joy

by MonitorofNothing



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Injury, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-10-21 03:36:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 44,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20686862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonitorofNothing/pseuds/MonitorofNothing
Summary: "If we ever get out of this, if against all hope Mildred Hubble manages to pull off one of her last-minute save-the-day stunts, I'll tell you, Ada, I promise. I'll finally tell you how I feel."Hecate and Ada face the consequences of various Wishing Star disasters while trying to navigate a change in their relationship. Set during the second half of season 3. Major spoilers.





	1. Bad Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cassiopeiasara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassiopeiasara/gifts), [A_Study_In_Magic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Study_In_Magic/gifts), [hecateandhoney (LiveLoveLikeMe)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLoveLikeMe/gifts).

> Buckle up Hackle lovers, let's take a ride through my headcanon!
> 
> I'm following the show quite closely in some places so a lot of the dialogue here is lifted from canon, obviously I am not claiming to have written those bits.

  
"Miss Hardbroom!"  
"Yes?"  
"The Wishing Star. It didn't get broken. I took it."  
_"What?"_   
"I used it to make my mum magical. I thought she'd given up her powers. I was wrong. And now she's turning people tiny and putting then in her clay model..."  
Mildred Hubble's words were drowned out by the hurricane they unleashed inside Hecate's body. She thought she might vomit, or black out, or both. She concentrated on remembering how to breathe, pouring all her strength into holding still, holding herself together.   
"Miss Hardbroom? Sorry..." Hecate's attention snapped back to the room, trying to process the last part of what the wretched girl had been saying.  
...Tiny clay people? She flexed her fingers and transferred them both to the art room.  
There was the clay monstrosity that was supposedly their beloved academy. And there, standing just outside-  
_Ada_.  
She couldn't resist leaning forward and cradling the tiny perfect figure in her hands. Ada's blue eyes moved to stare up at her beseechingly, just as they had from that painting two years ago. Hecate touched her thumb gently to Ada's stomach in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture.  
"It's really them, isn't it Miss Hardbroom? But you can get them out can't you?"  
_Yes. Of course. Save her, quickly. Save all of them._ She cursed herself for being so distracted by emotion that she wasn't thinking fast enough. There would be time for feelings later, when Ada was safe and they had somehow worked together to make everything right again- _oh. Damn_.  
"A neutralising spell. No magic will work here until it is lifted."  
"My _mum_ did that?!"  
"You fail to understand what is happening. Magic given to a non magical person is almost impossibly powerful. Like a runaway train."  
"So then we tell her to take it off again. It's my mum, she'll listen-"

"She will not! You have no  _ idea _ what you have done."   
Another transfer took them close to that dreaded clearing in the wood. Hecate lifted the misdirection spell and moved forward. She felt the familiar clench in her stomach at the sight of the statue, and another when they had taken a few more steps and seen its expression of blank terror. She felt proud of the steadiness in her voice as she told the story of the girl who had been Joy and her disastrous friendship with Indigo Moon.   
By the time she had finished, Mildred's expression mirrored that of the statue. Her voice came out high and shaky, suddenly sounding much younger.

"That's Indigo Moon? That's... really her? ... Are you saying that's what's going to happen to my mum?" Hecate almost couldn't bear to confirm it. But she made herself look the girl in the eye and nod.

"I am telling you so that you will be prepared. I am telling you so that you know you are not the only one who has made this grievous mistake." She watched Mildred's mind snap into desperate denial.

"I don't believe it. It's just a story. And that is just a statue."

Hecate took a step forward. 

"It is the truth. I know."

" _ How  _ do you know, Miss Hardbroom?"

_ Oh gods. I'm really going to have to tell her.  _ She braced herself.

"Because, Mildred Hubble, my middle name is Hecate. My  _ first _ name-" she had to force the words out- "is Joy." 

Mildred gaped at her, obviously struggling to take in this information. Hecate sighed.

"I learned my lesson.  _ Never _ break the Witches' Code. I cut myself off from my witch friends. I continued to be confined to the academy until I graduated. I have lived with my guilt for thirty years. I will endeavour to help you do the same." She saw Mildred's rising panic and reached out to touch her arm. "There is nothing we can do for your mother."

"No," Mildred whispered, shaking her head and backing away, her face twisted in fury,  _ "NO!" _ She turned and raced out of the clearing, back towards the Academy.

Hecate closed her eyes and bit her lip. She made a move to follow the girl, but her attention was pulled back to the forlorn little figure of her old friend.   
She laid a hand on the statue's hood and rested her forehead there for a moment.  _ I'm so, so sorry, Indy. You deserved so much better than me. _   
When she caught up with Mildred, it turned out that she had gone and tried to reason with her mother, which meant that Ms Hubble would probably now be on the warpath searching for them.

Mildred being Mildred, she had already come up with an off-the-wall fix-it plan.

"Miss Hardbroom, this is my family tree. My ancestor Mirabelle lives here." Hecate rolled her eyes.

"She only ever spoke due to glitching magic caused by the Founding Stone disaster, she will not speak now!"

"Excuse  _ me _ , young lady!" And there  _ was _ Mirabelle Hubble, a few inches high and somehow talking as if she owned the place. Hecate dug her fingernails into her palms with impatience as the little figure prattled on. This was wasting so much time. But suddenly Mirabelle was reciting a spell, a spell Hecate didn't know. A spell that sounded as though it  _ might _ actually help...

Hecate was glad Mildred had asked about the lichen. She hadn't been familiar with it either but was too proud to say so, especially after being proved wrong about the family tree. Now, assuming that that dotty and frankly rude little witch could be trusted, if they could only get that potion brewed before any further catastrophe occurred, then-

_ "Miiildred!" _

Julie Hubble had materialised directly in front of them. Hecate stepped between the girl and her mother.

"Go now," she murmured.

"But Miss Hardbroom, what about you?"

_ "Go!"  _ Hecate held out her hands and strode towards the art teacher, closing the distance as quickly as she could. She could hear that Mildred was still behind her.  _ Can the wretched girl not do as she's told just this one single time? _

"Ms Hubble. What you have done is in breach of every rule in the Code. I must  _ insist  _ that you give up your magic this  _ instant-" _ She saw the stone beginning to claim the woman, the madness in her eyes, and got a jolt of the same sick horror she had felt on seeing it happening to her best friend. That momentary distraction was all Ms Hubble needed to get past her guard.

"Oh do one, HB!"

Hecate felt herself catapulted into the whirling darkness of transfer. But unlike a normal transference spell, there was an unbearable pressure coming at her from all angles, squeezing and crushing her down into a body ten times smaller than her own.

She blurred into existence beside the little figure of Ada, which now seemed perfectly in proportion. Ada's eyes found hers, and although the rest of her face was frozen, Hecate knew what she was thinking.  _ No. Not you too. How will we ever escape now? _ _   
_ She was feeling bruised from the transfiguration, with a panicky desperation to regain her body autonomy, to be able to move at will instead of being bound by clay, only able to swivel her eyes. And it was so cold. Not the sharp biting cold of the Founding Stone's ice, but a dead, heavy feeling as though she were buried deep under the earth. How had Ada and the others managed to endure this all day?

A painting, an ice palace, a clay sculpture. Here she was, imprisoned with Ada again, forced to watch powerless as the academy was destroyed around them. At least they were together. She felt guilty taking comfort from that, obviously it would be better if one of them were free to try to fix this. But she always felt better anywhere Ada was. _   
_ _ If we ever get out of this, if against all hope Mildred Hubble manages to pull off one of her last-minute save-the-day stunts, I'll tell you, Ada, I promise. I'll finally tell you how I feel. _

~*~

Hecate was still staring longingly at the clay Ada when she felt a tingling sensation and they were both wrapped in the glittering blue mist of an unfamiliar spell. In another moment, they were full size again and standing in the suddenly very crowded Art room along with everybody else who had been imprisoned in the sculpture. They had hardly had time to stretch their limbs when the door flew open and both Hubbles burst in, causing immediate general alarm. Hecate raised her hands in a defensive stance, determined not to be distracted and defeated this time. She wasn't going to let this woman hurt Ada again.

Julie Hubble tried to diffuse the situation."Don't panic! I'm fine now. I'm  _ so  _ sorry."

Hecate did not lower her arms. What was she talking about, how  _ could _ she be fine? This was just another dangerous trick. But before anyone could stop them, Maud and Enid rushed to embrace their friend, and Ms. Hubble did not attack them. Perhaps something  _ had _ changed. Hecate lowered her guard just a little.

Ethel lost no time in apportioning blame.

"Miss Cackle! All this started because Mildred Hubble broke the Witches' Code and gave her mo-"

" _ -Thank _ you Ethel. I am aware."

"I was honestly just coming back to undo the spell," said Ms Hubble. She did appear genuinely penitent. Mildred was looking from her mother to the sculpture.

"The lichen spell must have worked the same on them as it did on you." So Mildred  _ had _ managed to make the potion. And it had somehow broken through the neutralising spell. 

Ada took control of the situation.

"All out, please." Her tone was so mild that she could have been at an afternoon tea party, but Hecate was not fooled by it. The headmistress was very, very angry.

Everybody filed out, Maud and Enid giving Mildred sympathetic looks as they passed. Hecate moved closer to Ada as the door closed behind the last straggler. Ada sighed.

"I blame myself. Miss Hardbroom was right. I should never have hired a non magical teacher." Hecate looked at her with concern. If she had heard those words even a day earlier she would have relished her triumph, but now she just felt incredibly weary, and she could tell that Ada did too. She hadn't wanted to be proved right like  _ this _ .

"Obviously," Ada continued, "You will need to leave the premises today." Ms Hubble nodded without surprise. But Mildred looked devastated.

"Miss Cackle-"

"-And you  _ will _ give up your magic."

"Miss Cackle, no! She, she's got it under control now! I cured her." Hecate stepped in.

"She may have been saved from turning to stone, but we  _ cannot _ know that she is in control."

"She  _ is!"  _ Mildred shouted, jumping forward. Hecate held up a hand to stop her coming any closer. "She is, she's in control, you can't  _ do  _ this!"

"You are  _ very _ close to leaving this Academy with your mother," snapped Ada. Mildred's eyes filled with tears and she stumbled back again. The Hubbles exchanged a long look and then the mother bit her lip and took a deep breath.

"I… I think I can remember. The spell to give up my magic."

" _ Remember?"  _ said Hecate blankly. Ms Hubble hung her head.

"Mildred gave me the spell a few weeks ago. She told me I had to use it. I … I  _ pretended _ to give up my magic then. But I didn't really mean it."

"Well then you'll excuse me for checking, this time around." Ada's voice was full of acid now. 

"Of course," mumbled Ms Hubble. Hecate was still trying to process the fact that Mildred Hubble had tried to take the bad magic away. It was more than Joy had accomplished.

Mildred burst into tears once the spell was done but her mother looked strangely relieved. Both Ada and Hecate ran diagnostic tests on the woman to make sure the magic was completely gone. Then they sent her off to pack up her possessions.

~*~

Ada sighed. "You're probably right Hecate. I shouldn't expel her. We'll tell her she can stay. I'm too overwrought to think of an appropriate punishment right now but we must make it clear that she needs to atone for this appalling lapse of judgement." She put her head in her hands and massaged her temples. Hecate wondered how it would feel to gently move those hands away and smooth the worry out of Ada's face with her own fingers. Out of habit she squashed the thought, but then she checked herself.  _ No. You're allowed to wonder. Because you're going to tell her. Soon. Just go and make absolutely sure that menace of an art teacher is safely gone for good. _

The Hubbles were saying an emotional farewell in the courtyard. Hecate found the sight irritating beyond all reason. She took no small amount of pleasure in snapping her fingers and vanishing the mother mid-sentence. A cheap victory, perhaps, but highly satisfying after all she had endured today. She materialized next to the startled Mildred.

"Your mother is now home. She had lingered long enough." Mildred sighed.

"What about me, Miss Hardbroom?"

"Miss Cackle is furious. It is only because she knows you are not the first person to make this mistake that you will be allowed to stay."

"Did you speak up for me?" Hecate moved her gaze to the horizon. She wasn't going to admit to that in a million years. There was a pause. Then Mildred spoke again.

"Miss Hardbroom. I didn't use all the lichen potion. There's still enough left to save Indigo Moon the same way we saved my mum."

_ No.  _ Hecate's reaction was instantaneous. All her muscles spasmed painfully. _ No, no, no.  _ This was  _ over _ . The school had been saved. The Code had been appeased. Everything could go back to normal. How could Mildred stand there and blithely suggest setting another monster loose, as though it were the obvious thing to do? Had the girl learned  _ nothing  _ from this experience? She took the bottle and deliberately poured out the contents onto the grass.

"It is against the Code for non-magicals to have magic. I have not broken the Code since I was a child." Mildred was aghast.

"But we could have  _ saved _ her!"

"Her magic made her a danger to the entire witching world. We cannot take that chance again."

"She was your  _ best friend _ , Miss Hardbroom!"

"She was  _ Joy's _ best friend. I am no longer Joy… I do not want to hear the name Indigo Moon  _ ever _ again."

Neither of them noticed that the discarded potion had not drained away but was still sparkling with magic and starting to spread throughout the grounds.

~*~

Back in the headmistress's office, Hecate was wondering how to begin. It was all very well making up your mind to finally reveal the deepest secrets of your heart but how did you actually  _ start  _ that conversation? Particularly when the object of your affections was sitting there berating herself for poor staffing decisions, and kept offering you biscuits.   
For a second she wished she were six inches high and stuck in the sculpture again so that she didn't have to keep this enormous promise just yet. The fact that - as Ada was completely unaware of this promise - she could decide to pretend it had never been made did not occur to her. Nor did simply putting it off until tomorrow. Hecate Hardbroom did not make promises lightly. She had made this one, and now the crisis was out of the way, she was going to keep it.

She'd almost told Ada after their narrow escape last Halloween. But they'd been interrupted and distracted and she had lost her nerve. This time had to be different. She needed a plan. And perhaps some kind of gift… _ Yes.  _ Ada's next birthday was going to be a big one. Hecate had been preparing a surprise for a while now. But it would work equally well as a courtship gift. Maybe even better.

When Ada's musings seemed to have reached a natural break, Hecate gently excused herself and went thoughtfully up to her bedroom, where she spent the next two hours pacing the floor and muttering under her breath. 

Once she was satisfied, she gathered all her courage, realised there wasn't quite enough of it and had a quick shot of Witches' Brew to top it up. Then she transferred herself to the corridor outside the office, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.


	2. Confessions

Ada drained her cup of tea, leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, trying to still her mind and relax. She couldn't believe she was sitting here trying to come to terms with yet another attempt to destroy the school. Life had certainly become a lot more exciting in the last few years and frankly she wasn't quite sure she was up to the challenge. What _ was _ it about the current batch of students? With Mildred Hubble and Ethel Hallow around she hardly even needed an evil twin to make things difficult. Should she have expelled Mildred? She almost had. Against both their expectations, it was Hecate who had saved the girl. She had spoken quite passionately in her defence and Ada was so blown away by her strength of feeling that she had agreed almost against her better judgement.

Hecate had definitely had a point though. Ada herself had decided at the end of last year not to expel Ethel because she'd rather keep the girl where she could see her, and hopefully have some influence over the development of her character, and after all hadn't Mildred's actions been almost the same as Ethel's? They had both stolen powerful magic and put the school in terrible danger but they had both seen themselves as helping somebody they loved. And that was what Hecate had done thirty years ago, desperate to get back the friend who had been taken away from her. 

Ada had been away on teaching practice during Indigo Moon's brief appearance at the academy. She'd had a brief summary of events from her mother but hadn't heard the full story until many years later when her friendship with Hecate became deep enough for significant confidences. The laws against contact with non magicals had been stricter in their youth but even so Ada had always thought that the young Hecate's punishment had been too harsh. If Ada's mother had only shown the girl a little more understanding right at the beginning, perhaps the situation wouldn't have escalated, and Indigo Moon would now be a middle aged woman safe in the non magical world instead of being frozen forever in stone at the age of thirteen. And adult Hecate might be a much more laid back person. But then of course, she wouldn't _ be _ Hecate, would she? She'd be Joy. And although her deputy could be deeply exasperating at times, Ada couldn't bring herself to imagine her any different. She liked Hecate just as she was, _ needed _her like that to balance out her own way of looking at the world. If she'd only listened to her deputy's concerns about Julie Hubble's appointment in the first place she wouldn't have ended up endangering the lives of both staff and students today. But it had seemed like such a good idea at the time.

She wished Hecate had accepted her offer of a drink this evening instead of going off on her own to "see to some work". Probably she was down in the potions lab, self-soothing by cataloguing ingredients or maybe brewing a potion for her stores. Ada toyed with the idea of going to look for her but thought better of it. She didn't want to seem needy. If Hecate wanted company she knew where to find it. If not, she was better left to her own devices.

Being turned to clay and imprisoned had obviously been traumatic for everybody and Ada knew she would have to keep an eye on them all for a while. But the uncanny similarity with past events meant Hecate would have been hit hardest of all. It would take a long time for her to feel safe again. Ada started to wonder if there were something especially nice she could do for Hecate in the next few days, some little treat she could arrange to take her deputy's mind off things and show how much she was appreciated...

Her musings were interrupted by a knock at the door so faint that she wasn't sure there was really somebody there. She waved a hand and the door flew open to reveal Hecate, fist raised to knock again.

Ada beamed and beckoned her inside.

"Shall I brew another pot of tea?"

"Yes! Yes, that- that would be lovely." Hecate's voice sounded a little strained.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"What? Oh. Yes I'm fine thank you." She sat down in her usual armchair and her cat Morgana jumped up into her lap. But Ada had hardly measured out the tea when Hecate was up again, tipping the cat unceremoniously onto the cushions and pacing over to the window, then the door, then back again.

Ada wasn't quite sure what was going on. Usually Hecate was quiet and withdrawn in the aftermath of a crisis but tonight she seemed to be crackling with a weird nervous energy.

"Are you _ sure _you're alright?"

Hecate licked her lips and nodded, seemed about to say something but then closed her mouth again and moved over to the desk, where she busied herself rearranging a perfectly tidy stack of reports.

Ada left the tea to brew and settled back with her own cat Pendle in his favourite position as a foot-warmer. Hecate had now climbed up to the little balcony where the files were kept, but no sooner had she reached it than she turned around and strode back into the main office. She was starting to make Ada quite dizzy. Finally she spoke.

"Ada, I… that is… there is something I should like to discuss with you… er, _ tell _you. Something important. Um, you might not- I mean it's fine if you don't… but I just wanted to say it. Because. Um." 

She hadn't kept still for a second during this cryptic speech, but wherever she was in the room her eyes were fixed on Ada with something that looked very much like desperation.

"Hecate, you're worrying me. What is it, my love?"

"_ Love?! _" Hecate stopped short and looked as though someone had hit her around the back of the head. The word seemed to echo off the walls, filling the whole room, the whole castle, until Ada could barely breathe.

She closed her eyes and felt her cheeks going as pink as her jumper. Of course she loved Hecate. Of _ course _ she did. She had for years, decades even. But Hecate had always seemed completely oblivious, and in the last few years there had been the rekindling of her ambiguous friendship with Pippa Pentangle... And Ada's own friendship with Hecate had grown so comfortable, yet so completely vital to her own happiness that she had never dared to push it, never had the confidence to risk losing it in the hope of gaining anything more. For so many years now she'd had to be so careful with her choice of words and gestures and not letting her eyes linger anywhere they shouldn't. And now, because she was exhausted and emotional and Hecate was hurting and gazing at her pleadingly, she'd just blown all that and called her _ love. _It had just… slipped out.

"You_ love _ me?"

Ada knew her own reaction had already scuppered any chances of passing it off as a meaningless slip of the tongue. She took a deep breath, and then two more because the first had not been enough to steady herself.

"Yes, Hecate. I am in love with you. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to just come out like that with no warning, I didn't mean it to come out at all, especially after you've had such a hard day and you were just about to tell _ me _ something important and I want you to know this doesn't have to _ change _ anything and I'm quite capable of putting my feelings to one side and maintaining a good professional relationship with you, and-" She knew she was babbling now but she couldn't stop, until she saw Hecate's face had finally unfrozen and settled into a mask of pure indignation. She started pacing again, and waving her hands around, eyebrows doing overtime.

"But- but I was just about to tell _you_! I… I spent _ages_, writing a speech and pouring out my feelings, and, and learning it by heart so I didn't get it wrong, and I got _flowers_ and I was just, just nerving myself up and then _you… _you just wade in and say what I've been wanting to say for _years_, by _accident!_"

"Um, Hecate, are you trying to say you love me too?"

Her deputy opened and closed her mouth a few times but seemed unable to speak. She nodded instead.

"Right. Well, that's… good?" said Ada, now feeling decidedly light-headed. "Er, why don't you stop striding around and take a seat and… and we can... try and sort this out?"

Hecate sat down with a bump, dislodging Morgana from the armchair. The cat arched her back and hissed. Ada looked at the woman and her cat wearing identical expressions of righteous outrage. It had been an overwhelming day, and suddenly she was all out of diplomacy. A bubble of hysteria rose up inside her, and came out as an extremely inelegant snort. Hecate's eyes popped and she stared at Ada as though she were a first year who had just exploded a cauldron. Ada spiralled into an uncontrollable fit of giggles. Hecate continued to stare. Then the corner of her mouth twitched and her eyes softened and now they were both helpless with laughter, tears streaming down their faces as they gasped for breath. 

Pendle and Morgana turned their backs on their unpredictable mistresses and stalked out of the window, not at all pleased with this riotous interruption of their peaceful evening routine.

~*~

When the cats deigned to return, they were pleased to find Hecate's chair vacant, and promptly settled down in it for a nap.

Ada had widened her own chair to make room for two, and now her head was on Hecate's shoulder, with Hecate's cheek resting on her forehead. She held Hecate's hand in both of her own, gently running her thumbs over the knuckles and those long beautiful fingers. She still couldn't believe this was happening, that a day that had been so awful had somehow turned into the best evening she had ever known. 

Hecate's whisper cut into her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Ada."

"What for?"

"The way this worked out. I mean I'm happy - I'm _ so _ happy that we both feel the same way and both know about it now but I didn't want it to happen like this. I wanted to ask you, I wanted it to be perfect, because it's _ you. _ You deserved it to be perfect. You deserved it to be _ romantic _."

"Hecate. I am happier in this moment than I've ever been in my life. Romance is lovely but I don't _ need _ it. What I needed this evening after the day we've had was a bloody good laugh and we've certainly had that, my love." She placed a kiss on the back of Hecate's hand, and then had a sudden thought. "Did you say you'd got me flowers?" 

Hecate's face lit up. She pulled her hand from Ada's grasp and flourished her fingers dramatically. As both her hands and Ada's remained empty, Ada thought at first that nothing had happened. Then she looked up. There were climbing rose trees covering the walls of her office, growing straight out of the floor and spreading all the way across the ceiling. The flowers were large, candy floss pink with heart-shaped petals, and they smelled of strawberries and vanilla and endless summer afternoons. Ada was lost in wonder and delight. Maybe she _ did _ need romance after all… She couldn't imagine how long it had taken Hecate to invent such a complex spell. Was _ this _ what she had been up to all those times when she'd told Ada she was too busy with research to come down for meals? 

Ada got up and moved around the room, completely entranced.

She could feel Hecate hovering behind her, watching her closely, clearly very anxious to see what reaction her gift would receive. Ada turned back to her and smiled and smiled and smiled. For once she was utterly lost for words. 

Hecate gave a sigh of relief. Then her expression shifted and, as though this were something that happened every day, she took Ada's face in her hands and kissed her very gently on the lips. 

It was incredible to Ada that such a brief, chaste contact could have such a monumental effect upon her body. Her heart was going wild. Dormant nerve endings were suddenly clamouring for attention. 

Hecate appeared equally surprised by this turn of events. It seemed she had acted on pure instinct. She raised a hand wonderingly to her own mouth for a moment as if she couldn't quite believe what she had just done. Then she began to speak. It was quite hard for Ada to focus on what Hecate was actually saying, but when she did manage to grasp it, it was well worth hearing.

"I love you Ada. I've loved you for so long that I don't even know when it started. I've never believed - I still don't believe I'm good enough for you, but if this is really what you want then… I'm here. For as long as you want me."

"I hope one of these days I'll be able to persuade you that we both deserve each other," Ada said.

She held her close and kissed Hecate back, letting one hand stray to the nape of her neck and rubbing small circles there with her thumb. By now, most of her body was urging her to deepen the kiss, to do what she'd always dreamed of and map out the lovely curves of Hecate's waist and hips, but though her lips were soft and welcoming, Hecate's limbs were still quite tense and Ada didn't want to take her anywhere she wasn't ready to go. She knew Hecate didn't often feel much at ease with physical contact. They would have to take things very slowly. She pressed her lips to Hecate's one last time and then pulled away.

"Ada, will you sleep with me tonight?" 

Ada did such a double take that her glasses fell off.

"Sorry, what?" 

Hecate had blushed scarlet and was refusing to meet her gaze.

"I-I didn't mean… Oh gods… I meant really just sleep. Together. With our nightclothes _ on _ . Of course I understand if you don't want to, but… it's been a difficult day. A difficult _ year _ , so far _ . _And I feel so happy now, just sitting with you, and I don't want that to stop. I thought it might be… a comfort. To both of us. I didn't mean it to come out like that. You know I'm no good at saying the right thing." 

Ada almost dissolved into giggles all over again, but Hecate's anxiety steadied her. She gave her most reassuring smile.

"That would be perfect."

It wouldn't be the first time they'd shared a bed. Both of them had felt chilled to the bone for weeks after last year's nightmarish Halloween events, and with the sound of Hecate's nightly panic attacks coming through the wall and repeatedly pulling Ada out of her uneasy bad dreams, they had found themselves taking comfort in huddling together in Hecate's bed with mugs of cocoa, sometimes talking through their fears, sometimes distracting themselves with a safer topic. When their eyelids grew heavy they had curled up back to back under the blankets and drifted off to sleep, each protecting the other from their demons until the morning.  
When the cold and the fear had begun to recede, they had become awkward and overly polite with each other, and eventually gravitated back to their separate rooms with mutual relief - mixed, on Ada's part at least, with a considerable measure of regret. They had never spoken of it again.  
Ada took hold of Hecate's hand and kissed it again. 

"I don't know about you but I'm feeling pretty worn out. Shall we get ready for bed?"

~*~

As they lay companionably side by side a thought occurred to Ada. 

"Hecate dear, those roses. You know how much I love them but they're rather, well, _ extravagant. _How am I going to explain them to everyone else who comes into my office?"

Hecate had her best smug face on. "They won't be able to see them. The spell only works for you. And for me. Nobody else will know they are there. I'm not sure how long they'll last. I've never been able to leave them in place before."

"Well," Ada yawned, "as far as I'm concerned, they can stay as long as they like." 

She turned on her side and wriggled backwards to lean against Hecate, holding onto the knowledge of her love, and today's averted crisis, and the fervent hope that the rest of this school year would be blissfully uneventful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not always able to type and I wrote most of this with voice recognition software. It's mostly got the hang of recognising Ada, but Hecate still comes out as "her kitty" half the time, which may or may not have influenced this chapter...
> 
> Ada's roses are real by the way, they're growing in my garden. See my Tumblr for pics :) https://monitorofnothing.tumblr.com/post/187796007173/adas-roses


	3. The Cackle Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: brief mention of self harm, panic attack
> 
> Hecate's continuing confinement to Cackle's as an adult really bothers me. It's such a monumental thing for the character but all the attention it gets is one offhand comment and then those few seconds where Ada removes it. And then it turns out to have zero relevance to the actual plot. So I'm cheerfully ignoring it here, mostly because I want her to be able to leave whenever I feel like it.

Ada awoke next morning to find not only an arm around her waist but a leg draped over her thigh and warm breath on her neck. Sleeping Hecate evidently had far fewer inhibitions. Ada kept still and quiet, relishing the contact and marvelling at how different things were from this time yesterday. 

She was still secretly hugging herself with glee at the discovery that Hecate Self-Denial Hardbroom slept in silk pyjamas. Last time they’d shared a bed the cold was so deep in their bones that they’d both worn their dressing gowns under the covers. Sleeping next to Hecate dressed head to toe in black leather had been exciting enough, but lying in her arms when she was all warm and slippery with silk was a whole new exquisite world. Ada made a mental note to dig out some of her own more attractive nightwear and see if it still fitted. If not she might have to go shopping. Years of sleeping alone meant she had drifted into prioritising warmth and comfort over aesthetics. She spent a blissful few minutes imagining how Hecate might react to some of the things she had worn in her younger days.

Hecate shifted in her sleep and her pyjama sleeve rode up to expose her forearm. Ada gasped. There were thin white scars standing out on her skin, almost glowing in the light filtering in through the curtains. She had always known Hecate had faced things nobody should have to face, and faced them mostly alone. But those white stripes speaking of long-ago unendurable pain made her stomach twist. She couldn’t bear to think of Hecate hurting so much that she would do that to herself. By the look of them it had happened when she was quite young. _ It mustn't ever happen again. She’s mine now. Nobody is allowed to hurt her. _Ada reached up and gently pulled the sleeve back over the wrist. Hecate could show her another time, if she wanted to. If it were even significant to her now, after so much time had passed.

Hecate stirred and muttered something, then rubbed her eyes and groaned. Ada was careful to keep her own breathing steady and her limbs heavy until the other woman had properly woken up and had time to untangle herself without embarrassment if she liked.

But she didn't, not at first. She stiffened a little and Ada heard a slight intake of breath, but it was still quite some time before Hecate carefully unwound her limbs and rolled over onto her back. Ada thought this was probably as good a time as any to fake waking up.

She sighed and stretched and rolled over to find Hecate gazing at her adoringly. _ I could get used to this. _

“Good morning,” murmured Hecate. 

“Morning.” Ada reached out and smoothed back a tendril of hair that had escaped from her deputy’s nighttime braid. “It is quite extraordinarily wonderful to wake up with you, you know.” Hecate looked bashful and baffled in equal measure. Ada had devoted quite some time over the years to subtly trying to get her used to taking compliments but she’d never had much success. She was going to have to work harder at it because now they were together, there were all sorts of things she wanted to be able to say without making her beloved uncomfortable.

“It’s hardly the first time we’ve woken up together Ada.”

“It’s the first time I’ve been allowed to tell you how much I like it.” Hecate smiled tentatively.

“Did… did you really mean everything you said last night? It _ did _ really happen?” Ada found her hand and kissed the tip of each finger, noticing that her rather intimidating nails had been magically retracted for the night.

“It really did, love.” 

Hecate swallowed.

“It’s going to take a while for me to get used to hearing that word.” She raised an eyebrow. “Even when you say it on purpose.” 

Ada burst out laughing. “Are you ever going to forgive me for stealing your thunder like that?

“Maybe. Eventually.” Hecate looked very stern, then spoiled the effect by yawning and rubbing her eyes again. “I need coffee. Would you like some tea?”

It being Saturday morning, they got a whole extra hour in bed before the rising bell sounded. They sat up and Ada propped herself comfortably against the pillows while Hecate as hostess, busied herself with the magical preparation of their first caffeine hit of the day.

Ada sipped her tea. “I must admit I’m struggling to process you loving me too. I thought - I always thought it was just friendship for you. And I…” She trailed off, not knowing quite how to bring this up.

“What?”

“I… well, in the last few years… I thought maybe you and Miss Pentangle were…” Even sitting in Hecate's bed, Ada couldn't quite bring herself to finish that sentence. Hecate looked gratifyingly surprised. Ada couldn’t quite meet her eye. “I mean, when you go to visit her… you often stay the night…”

“Ada, it’s a long flight home and I don’t always feel like making it late at night. Pippa has a guest room. We chat, we play chess, we go to bed in separate rooms.” She smiled. “Then I come home to you. I do enjoy my visits but it’s completely platonic.”

“Oh.”

“Have you been jealous of her?” 

Ada shrugged and nodded. “A little.” _ A lot. _

Hecate put her cup down carefully on the bedside table, took Ada’s hand and intertwined their fingers.

"I believe... I _ was _ in love with Pippa, when we were young." Ada's stomach lurched. "But she has never felt the same way about me," continued Hecate. "I don't think she had any idea at the time. To be honest I don't know whether she even likes women. I never had the courage to ask, when it mattered to me. Pippa was always very popular with the boys. That was what I found so hard, it was one of the reasons I walked away. She doesn’t seem to have changed much either, she still has a whole string of admirers. I find it quite amusing now… Seeing her again after all those years apart - well it was very strange and confusing at first. But as we got to know each other again it just wasn't what I would have expected. I'm glad she came back into my life. I'm glad of her friendship. But I don't need anything more from her. Being around her really showed me that my feelings for _ you _ were so much stronger than I had realised they were. Especially last year, when the school was in trouble and she just waltzed in and tried to change everything all in one day. _ You _ would _ never _ have been so insensitive." Ada squeezed her hand.

"She did redeem herself quite nicely with that Mists of Time trick though. And standing up to the Great Wizard. It takes strength of character to publicly admit you're wrong like that." She felt she could afford to be generous towards Miss Pentangle now that she has been assured she wasn’t a threat.

“You know, she actually told me, last time I saw her, that she thought I should go for it with you,” said Hecate. 

“_ Really _? What did you say?”

“Nothing. She said it just as we were saying goodbye. I was so surprised I just flew away.” Ada couldn’t help chuckling at the image.

“Do- do you talk about me a lot, with her?”

“No! We’d never talked about this before. She just said she’d seen the way we looked at each other, whatever _ that’s _ supposed to mean.” Hecate’s face crinkled with worry. “You don’t think it’s obvious to _ everyone? _It would be so unprofessional…”

“Your feelings weren’t obvious to me, and mine weren’t obvious to you. I think we’re ok. I suspect Miss Pentangle likes playing matchmaker, and she just wants you to be happy.” Hecate rolled her eyes and smirked. 

“Just wants to interfere, you mean.” She cleaned their empty cups with a charm and sent them back to their shelf. “Never mind Pippa. What are we doing today?”

Ada summoned her diary. “Presiding over meals of course… Just imagine,"she said dreamily, "Once it's the holidays and all the girls have gone home, we could have breakfast in bed if we wanted."

"Decadent frivolity," sniffed Hecate, though there was a gleam in her eye that made Ada suspect she wouldn't be entirely averse to the idea.

“Then I’m supervising the second year revision session this morning and you’ve got the third years this afternoon.” She groaned. “And I still need to think up a suitable punishment for Mildred Hubble. I knew there was _ something _unpleasant on my to-do list.”

“Hm.” Hecate nodded. “I might go to her room for a word before breakfast. Yesterday I ended up telling her about…” she trailed off.

“Indigo Moon?” asked Ada gently. Hecate winced at the sound of the name.

“Yes. I thought it necessary to help her understand her mother’s situation. But now that things are back to normal… I want to make sure she doesn’t share the story. I wish I hadn’t told her now. You never know what that girl might take it into her head to do. She needs to know it is _ not _to become public information.” She was twisting her fingers together as she spoke, obviously fretting now and itching to go and contain any potential danger but not liking to ask Ada to get out of her bed.

“I have a few things to take care of too,” lied Ada. “I’d better go and get dressed. See you at breakfast?” Hecate's face cleared.

“Ok.” She jumped out of bed and strode to her bathroom door. Then she paused and walked deliberately back to Ada, who was now sitting on the side of the bed pulling on her slippers. Blushing furiously, she leant down and placed a lingering kiss on Ada’s mouth. Then without a word she turned and went back to the bathroom.

Ada transferred to her own rooms, not wanting to be caught walking through Hecate’s door in her nightgown. She washed and dressed and got ready to go down for breakfast, where she was going to have to keep reminding herself to stop smiling...

~*~

Ada was drawn out of her office that afternoon by a commotion in the courtyard. She ran into Hecate in the entrance hall.

"Ada, _ none _ of my third years have showed up for study period!" Ada nodded towards the front door.

"There's something going on out there." They transferred into the middle of a group of girls all staring at the sky and shouting with excitement.

"They survived Crooknose Corner!" exclaimed someone, and Ada was gripped with horror. _The Cackle Run?! _Surely not. People had _died _attempting it, who could possibly be so… _Ah. _That was definitely Ethel Hallow riding alone on the first broomstick. And on the other… Ada squinted… Mildred Hubble, riding pillion behind a girl she did not recognise. To Ada's surprise, Mildred and her companion overtook Ethel as they approached the castle. They were plunging downwards now, coming too quickly, misjudging the angle. They were going to crash right into the crowd of watching students. 

Before Ada could act, Hecate had saved them with a spell. The broomstick stalled before reaching the ground and they heard a gasp of relief from the riders.

"_ What" _stormed Hecate, "is the meaning of-" She froze. The dishevelled girl in front of Mildred had raised her head and was regarding them with interest. 

"Hello!" she said brightly. "I'm Indigo Moon. Who are you?"

~*~

Ada, Hecate and Mildred were holding an emergency conference in the office. It was not going well.

"Did I or did I not tell you that I wanted _ nothing _ more to do with that girl?”

“Yes but I-”

“I trusted you to respect my wishes in this matter and instead you immediately ran off and brewed that wretched potion again and set her free!" Mildred stood her ground.**  
** "But I didn't, I _ couldn't! _ I'd used up all that weird lichen! Miss Hardbroom, _ you're _ the one who threw away my spare potion. It must have spread out into the woods and set her free just like Mum's dose worked on everyone in the art room!" Hecate gripped the back of Ada's chair and went very still. This had evidently not occurred to her.

Mildred apparently didn't know when would be a good time to shut up.

"It was an accident, Miss Hardbroom, but I'm glad that it happened." 

"_ Glad!" _Hecate was absolutely beside herself now, pacing from one end of the desk to the other like a caged panther. "The girl is a threat to us all!"

"She could be a great witch! She wants to learn!"

"The only thing she will be learning is the spell for relinquishing her magic. It should never have been given to her. It is a mistake I have regretted ever since." Ada stepped in to support Hecate.

"We have no way of knowing that she is capable of using magic responsibly."

"But she's been here all day and she hasn't done any bad magic! And the only reason Indy did the Cackle Run was to save Ethel Hallow from injury - at great risk to herself. And if that's not using magic responsibly then I don't know what is!"

"_ Mildred Hubble! _" exploded Hecate, so worked up that she clearly wasn't listening properly any more.

"It's true!" Mildred turned to Ada in the hope of a more sympathetic audience. "Ethel took Enid's protection potion because it was the only one that had turned blue. But then Enid said-" Mildred looked deeply uncomfortable- "Well she didn't think her potion would really work. So Ethel only _ thought _she was protected. And Indigo flew off to warn her, even though she knew she was putting herself in danger!"

That _ did _ make a difference. Parasitic magic was the essence of selfishness. It was not really compatible with a heroic rescue attempt. Perhaps, with a few safeguards, Ada could make this work for everybody.

"Very well, said Ada eventually. "Since you are determined to take responsibility for her, I will allow it, under certain conditions." Hecate stared at her in utter betrayal.

"The girl does not belong here," she choked out. "And she _ never _ will." Without breaking eye contact, she snapped her fingers and disappeared.

For an awful moment Ada thought she was going to cry in front of Mildred Hubble. She wanted so much to just abandon the girl to do whatever she pleased while she ran to comfort the woman she loved. But Ada was in charge here. She had heavy responsibilities and she couldn't shrug them off to prioritise her own needs. Except of course that now it was Hecate's feelings she was having to push aside, as well as her own. 

Staying in her chair and re-engaging with Mildred was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do.

~*~

Once she'd resolved the Indigo situation to the best of her ability for the time being, Ada finally allowed herself to search for Hecate and found her crouched in a corner of her bedroom, hyperventilating. She knew from experience that once Hecate had got properly into a panic attack it was usually best to let her ride it out so she simply sat down next to her - not touching but within easy reach - and summoned a glass of water.

"I'm here if you need me," she said quietly. She made her own breathing slow and steady, and louder than usual, so Hecate would be able to use it as a guide if she needed it to come back.

Eventually Hecate's gasping subsided and she reached for the water and drank it down in one go.

"Do you want to get up?"

Hecate nodded and Ada hauled herself upright, wincing a little at the creaking in her knees. She reached down and helped Hecate to her feet.

"W-where is she?" _ No need to ask who. _

"Making up a spare bed for herself in Mildred's room."

"You don't _ really _ mean she is staying? She's _ dangerous, _ Ada, she'll _ hurt _ you. She'll kill us all, she'll destroy the Academy, and it will all be my fault! You know she'll do it, she tried it before. The magic - _ my _ magic - sent her mad, she'll stop at nothing, why are you even _ thinking _ about keeping her here?"

"This isn't just wilful optimism. I wouldn't compromise the safety of my girls like that after what just happened with Julie Hubble. After you left, I thoroughly examined the girl and ran her through every medimagical test I could think of - and I asked Algernon and Gwen to do the same. All our results suggest that Indigo Moon's magic is somehow as much a part of her now as if she had been born with it. It's not a parasite any more. It _ belongs _ to her. I truly believe that her powers are no longer a danger to the school, and she deserves a chance to stay and learn how to use them properly, _ if _ she can prove herself able to work hard and catch up with the other girls her age."

"But Ada, nobody's ever studied this before! There's no way of knowing how long it might last. And even if you're right, even if her magic were safe, the girl herself is a force of chaos! She's entirely undisciplined, has _ no _respect for authority. She's ten times worse than Mildred Hubble!"

"Well in that case it will be a fitting punishment for Mildred to be made responsible for her good behaviour. If Indigo fails, so does Mildred."

Hecate had her by the shoulders now, shaking her slightly with the force of her own trembling. 

"Please Ada, no, I can't do this, I can't have her here. She can't stay here, you have to send her away, you _have to_. I can't… _please_?" The last word was a whisper, and it cut right through Ada's heart. She wavered. But she knew she was doing the right thing.

"Hecate, I don’t have a choice. You know I love you. I will do anything within my power to make this situation easier for you but you _ cannot _ ask me to deliberately neglect my duty of care towards a child. I don't _ want _ her here either. But after what she's been through, the Academy owes Indigo the chance to make a fresh start and find somewhere she belongs. If she can't manage to fit in here I'll have to think of something else but I can't just abandon a thirteen-year-old girl with no parents."

Hecate let go of her and stood staring at the floor as though rooted to the spot, shock and fear and resentment all playing across her face. Finally she muttered "I need some air," and transferred away before Ada could say anything else. A few seconds later she appeared in the courtyard below, summoned her broomstick and flew off out over the forest.

~*~

An hour later Hecate was still absent. The need to be doing something productive compelled Ada to go and see how her controversial new pupil was settling in. She found Indigo with her arms around the dog Star, and Mildred's useless cat curled around her shoulders. _ At least the animals like her. They're familiars, they'd know if there were anything wrong with her magic. _ The girl had done a very sloppy job of making the bed, but as Ada drew breath to tell her that wasn't the way things were done at Cackle's she noticed that Mildred's bed was, if anything, even worse. She suddenly didn't have the energy to mention it.

"How are you getting on, Indigo?" she asked, almost succeeding in keeping her tone free of resentment. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Mildred's found me a spare uniform and a toothbrush from the supply cupboard, but I don't have any pyjamas or, er, clean underwear." Indigo blushed and looked at the floor. Despite herself, Ada felt a pang of sympathy._ Poor child. That's not really a conversation you want to have with an adult you've only just met. _

"Mildred, do you have a spare pair of pyjamas for Indigo to borrow for tonight? Good. Tomorrow's Sunday so you'll be free all day. In the morning I'll give you both a pass to go down into town and an allowance to buy Indigo anything else she needs. But that is _ needs, _ not _ happens to like the look of _, ok? I will expect you to show me your receipts when you return."

Both girls nodded demurely but their eyes were dancing with subdued excitement at the prospect of a shopping trip. Ada left them to it, feeling conflicted. She somehow hadn't expected Indigo Moon to be so _ normal. _

~*~

Hecate flew. She urged her broomstick almost past its limits, desperate for the roar of the wind and the blur of the trees rushing by to eclipse the images and the words that were still bombarding her, getting brighter and louder with every echo. The friendly open stare of the girl who had just crashed back into her life. _ Hello! I'm Indigo Moon. Who are you? _

Ada's face, reproachful and resolute. _ ...You cannot ask me to deliberately neglect my duty of care towards a child… the Academy owes Indigo… _

_ YOU owe Indigo, _ Ada's eyes were saying. _ You owe her, you owe her, come back and face her, you owe her! _

_ I'm Indigo Moon. Who are YOU? _

_ Who are you, who are you, who ARE you? _

The breeze was too soft here, the landscape too gentle. They weren't giving her the oblivion she needed. She cast a locating spell for the nearest patch of really bad weather. A howling thunderstorm over the Peak District._ Perfect. _ She raised one hand and transferred herself and her broomstick right into the middle of it.

~*~

When there was still no sign of Hecate by nightfall Ada became seriously alarmed. She had been gone for hours now. Ada tried a locating spell with no success. Hecate must be blocking her. She tried not to panic. Hecate was more than a match for any dangers she might encounter. But she couldn't stop thinking of the ancient scars she had glimpsed on Hecate's arm, couldn't stop fearing that her beloved might want to hurt herself again. Her own thoughts from that morning were buzzing through her head. _She's mine_ _now. Nobody's allowed to hurt her…_

_ Except me, apparently. _ She cast a locating spell for Hecate's maglet, and that was blocked too. She must have it with her. Ada took out her own maglet and sent a quick message.

_ I understand if you don't want company but please just let me know you are safe. _

The reply was almost instantaneous.

_ I need to be alone, Ada. _

Ada supposed it was reassuring that Hecate had replied so promptly. But did that terse message really mean she was safe? And the rejection was like a punch in the gut. How could they have gone from the wonderful tenderness of the morning to this place where Hecate wouldn't talk to her, couldn't even be in the same building? 

She had waited twenty years for this relationship to start fulfilling its true potential and now it felt as though Indigo Moon had erupted between them and blown the whole sweet, careful, fragile thing into dust. She knew that every relationship had to be tested sooner or later but such a gigantic challenge less than twenty four hours in did seem more than a little cruel after two decades of selfless pining.

The maglet chimed again and she pounced on it, desperate for reassurance, for a message containing just one tiny scrap of affection.

_ I will be back in time for classes. _

Ever-conscientious Hecate. So, no comforting endearments. But at least a promise to return. That was infinitely better than nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People tend to write Hackle as being constantly 100% devoted to each other, which is lovely, and I love reading it. But I thought it would be interesting to just push that a little and see what happens when they have a fight. Sorry if I destroyed anyone.


	4. Thorns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Injury, brief mention of self harm

Darkwood Cottage smelled stale and musty. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. Nobody had been here since Agatha left.

Hecate had briefly considered flying to Pentangles and spending the night in Pippa's comfortable spare room, being listened to, being looked after. But no. Pippa would insist on talking everything through when she didn't feel ready for that, and quite apart from the fact that Hecate knew perfectly well what her advice would be (_ Go back and _ ** _talk_ ** _ to the poor girl, Hiccup, you can all work through this _ ** _together_ ** _ ,) _she didn't relish the idea of explaining why the subject of Indigo Moon had never come up in the two years that she had been Pippa's best friend at college. Pippa would feel hurt never to have been trusted with the story and Hecate had hurt enough people already.

_ Including yourself, Hecate. _She had ridden the storm for a long time, losing herself in the overwhelming power of it, but a sudden blast of hailstones coupled with a double lightning flash had finally knocked her off the broomstick and onto the stony ground.

She cast a quick drying spell over the broom and her sodden clothes and collapsed onto the grimy sofa. 

Out of habit she pulled her maglet out of vanishment and checked the screen. No new messages. She didn't know whether to be relieved or hurt that there was nothing from Ada. 

As the adrenaline and sensory overload from the storm ebbed away, pain started washing through her consciousness. Her palms were bloody from the landing, one knee felt twisted and her left wrist was burning and swollen. And her faithful broom had a long crack running through the handle.

She healed her hands first, and then the broomstick, softly singing the wood back together with a chant and flexing her right hand to mend the broken twigs. She realigned the tendons in her wrenched knee. And then she cast a diagnostic charm over her wrist. One of the bones was snapped clean through.

She knew she ought to heal it. The spell was well within her capabilities. But by now it was radiating a bright, hot pain that was so clear a reflection of her current mood that it was somehow comforting. She cradled it against her body, letting it hurt, letting it express the agony in her mind.

Her maglet chimed. Ada was checking up on her after all. Hecate didn't want to talk, and said so. But after a few minutes she picked it up again and sent another message. _ I will be back in time for classes. _Even in her present state she couldn't sanction the idea of letting the Academy down. She dreaded not having the strength to go back, not being able to fulfill her duties. Not having any place in this world.

Hecate was who she was precisely _ because _ of what she had done to Indigo thirty years ago. Now that the results of that catastrophic spell had been reversed, where did that leave _ her _ ? Who was she supposed to be? _ How _was she supposed to be? How was she supposed to think, or interact, or do anything at all, when it felt as though the very core of her existence had been turned on its head? How was she supposed to face anybody else once the whole world found out what she had done?

She was the girl who did that terrible thing. It defined everything about her. The girl whose thoughtless, selfish mistake had effectively led to the death of her best friend. But if that friend had been resurrected and she maybe _ didn't _ have to spend every second of her life trying to atone for it and make sure that nothing like this ever happened again how the hell was she supposed to live? And anyway, it had all been for nothing. All her rigour and leading by example had failed to stop someone else making exactly the same mistake, with almost the same disastrous consequences. In fact it had been her own efforts to remove another non magical person from the school that had prompted Mildred to give her mother magic in the first place. And her attempt to safely dispose of that dangerous potion had ended up setting Indigo free. Just more examples of her own failings.

Joy was long dead, buried beneath decades of guilt and grief, self-denial and rigidity. And Joy had been thirteen years old - a child, with a child's certainty that her life could be far simpler and more straightforward than her parents and teachers were letting on. She hadn't spent years developing coping mechanisms to build herself a place in this world that had turned out to be so much darker and more frightening than she could ever have imagined. 

But could she honestly be Hecate any more? How could she, with Indigo Moon running around right under her nose, cheerful and careless and chaotic as ever, like a catalogue of all the qualities Hecate had spent so long painstakingly weeding out of her own character...

And it was Hecate who had fallen in love with Ada. Where did that leave them now?

It had taken seven years of working closely together for Hecate to even admit to herself that Ada had become her friend. She hadn't danced past Hecate's defences the way Pippa had, glittering and pirouetting and refusing to take no for an answer. She had simply… always been _ there _, quietly looking out for her. Noticing if something wasn't right. Somehow always managing to make her feel better, nudging her into new ways of looking at a situation.

It had taken another three years for her to realise that it wasn't just friendship. To notice the little thrill she felt when Ada smiled at her or touched her arm. To admit that Ada made her feel anchored in a way that nothing and nobody ever had before.

Of course, Ada couldn't possibly feel the same way. She was nice to _ everyone. _ She looked after everyone, pupils and teachers alike. And so Hecate had hidden her devotion, told herself to stop being so greedy, deliberately dismissed the occasional time when she'd thought she might have glimpsed something more in Ada's eyes. She had her friendship, after all, which was more than she'd ever thought she could allow herself.

She couldn't risk losing her the way she'd lost Pippa, wasn't going to run this time. Wasn't going to give herself an excuse to throw it all away.

Except now she had. She'd run out on not only their friendship but their newly declared love. Because for once, despite their heartfelt words and kisses, Ada had not stepped in to save her. She had seen this tornado hurtling in to destroy Hecate's carefully constructed world. She'd had the power to divert it. And she had chosen not to. She had, however reluctantly, let it in and found it somewhere to sleep. And she had made Hecate feel she was in the wrong for opposing this madness.

_ Indigo Moon does not belong here. This is my place. Mine. I tried to bring her into this world once before and it broke us both. She does- not- belong. _

Hecate gave an involuntary yelp of pain. She had held her damaged wrist so tightly against her stomach that the broken bone grated.

She knew Ada would want her to take better care of herself. But she didn't feel especially inclined to do what Ada wanted right now.

And then through the mists of time she saw the face of a much younger Gwen Bat on discovering a very young Hecate, who was sitting in the dark clutching her wrist, blood weeping out between her fingers.

_ You're worth more than this, _ said Gwen. Young Hecate didn't believe her. _ Trust me. This is not the way. _Joy would not have listened. Joy would have carried on following her instincts. But she was Hecate now. And Hecate had to follow the rules and do as she was told. So she listened carefully as Miss Bat explained how to stop the bleeding, and complied when she was told to heal the wounds herself. And in doing so she found a different kind of power. She could have made the scars disappear too, Miss Bat had told her how, but she had chosen to leave them there as a reminder that there were better ways to regain control.

The fierceness in Gwen's eyes shone across the decades to reach the adult Hecate, sitting in the dark nursing another wound and falling apart over Indigo Moon all over again. _ This is not the way. _

She knitted the bone back together with an intricate charm and then visualised the top shelf of her medical store cupboard. She summoned the bottle that was second from the left and massaged its contents into her bruised skin, watching with satisfaction as the swelling subsided and the blue and purple stains faded away. That _ did _feel better, after all.

_ Now you need to sleep, _ said the ghostly Gwen. _ Everything is easier when you've had enough sleep. _

"That's easy for _ you _ to say," muttered Hecate. "You're hardly ever awake these days." She didn't want to go upstairs and get into the bed that had been Agatha's. She conjured a blanket and rolled herself up in it on the sofa. But her eyes remained open, staring into the dark until the birds began to sing.

~*~

Ada woke feeling queasy and headachy. She had only slept fitfully, and her dreams had all been of Hecate. 

Hecate encased in ice. A tiny clay Hecate being crushed by a laughing Indigo Moon. Hecate breathless and glowing in Pippa Pentangle's bed. 

Hecate not coming back. _ Never _ coming back.

_ She said she would be back. She said she would. _ Ada finished brushing her hair and wrapped her cardigan more tightly around her. _ Come on Ada. Tea. You need tea. And toast. And… Hecate. You need Hecate… _

Breakfast made her feel a little better. She sent Mildred and Indigo off on their shopping trip and then spent the morning dealing with the fallout of a misunderstanding that had divided a first year friendship group. By the time everybody was grudgingly talking to everybody else they were all late for lunch. Indigo handed over her change and her receipts, which were perfectly reasonable, though she could see from a stain on the girl's dress that Mildred must have spent some of her own money on ice creams while they were out.

Ada automatically waved a hand to remove the stain. Almost to her disappointment, she found that she could not hate Indigo Moon. The girl was bright and engaging and vulnerable. She was really coping remarkably well so far with having woken up thirty years into the future. And what had happened with Hecate was not her fault.

Ada tried to use the afternoon to catch up on some paperwork, but the sight of Hecate's meticulous annotations kept sending jolts of anxiety through her.

She needed to get out of the school for a bit. Maybe a flight in the fresh air would clear her head and give her a little more perspective. She took her broom out of the closet, asked Dimity to hold the fort for an hour or so and flew up over the castle wall. She wandered aimlessly through the sky for a while and then with a sudden sense of purpose, turned the broomstick towards the town.

~*~

Julie Hubble was more than a little surprised to find Ada outside her front door.

"Well met, Ms Hubble. I wonder if we might have a chat?"

"Oh! Yes, of course, if you like." She let Ada in and put the kettle on. Soon they were facing each other across the kitchen table, both clutching steaming mugs of tea. Julie took a deep breath.

"I'm glad you're here Miss Cackle. I wanted to say again how very sorry I am for everything that happened. I never asked Mildred to give me magic. The first I knew of it was waking up in the sky because I'd levitated myself out of the window in my sleep. I asked her to take the spell off me straight away but at that point she didn't know how and by the time she found out, it'd started working on me and I didn't want to lose it any more. Once she realised how dangerous it could be she tried to persuade me to give it up and I… I pretended to agree with her ... and I _ pretended _ to do this spell to get rid of it. Mildred thought it was all ok then, nothing that happened after that was her fault. That was all me." Ada sipped her tea thoughtfully.

"Thank you for your explanation. I hadn't realised that you never asked for the magic in the first place."

"But what about Mildred? What's her punishment? I know what she did turned out to be awful but her intentions weren't bad."

"Her _ intentions _ never are," said Ada. "But the consequences of her actions are often disastrous because she never learns to stop and _ think _ before she jumps into something."

"I know..." Julie sighed. "But you're not going to expel her?"

"Ah," said Ada. "No, not at present. There have been some rather interesting developments on that front over the last couple of days." She filled Julie in on the situation, and gradually found herself saying much more than she had intended to. Julie Hubble was a very good listener.

"Poor old HB! No wonder she got so worked up about having me around. Must've brought back all sorts for her… But she's definitely coming back? I can't say I like her much but the place wouldn't be the same without her."

"No," agreed Ada sadly. "No, it really wouldn't."

"It was very brave of her to come and confront me, after everything that happened when she was a kid."

"Yes."

"But you're sure this Indigo isn't dangerous any more? I don't like the idea of her sleeping in Mildred's room if she might start kicking off…"

"As far as I can work out, the lichen potion Mildred made seems to have bonded the magic to her so it's working in the same way as any other witch's. I don't quite understand how it's happened but I can assure you that we tested her thoroughly and have no reason at all to believe that her magic is still dangerous. But I did wonder if I could ask a few more questions about _ your _ experiences to try and give me a better understanding of this situation? I know you'd probably rather not dwell on it, but..."

"If this is going to help keep Mildred safe then let's do it. I'll get some biscuits."

Julie talked for a long time while Ada nodded and made notes and asked the occasional question. When there were only two biscuits left in the packet she put down her third cup of tea and regarded her ex-employee.

"I believe you are also owed an apology, Julie. I had no choice but to dismiss you after what happened. You put the whole school in danger and broke the trust of the staff and the students. But I believe I could have handled the situation better. I wish I'd taken more time to listen to your story and find out a bit more about how everything happened. I was just so angry and I'd been so frightened and I just wanted you non-magical and out of the building as soon as possible."

"Well of course you did, after what I'd done. And to be honest I was quite keen to get away too."

"I did have to dismiss you," Ada said again. "But I think we might have been a bit hasty in forcing you to do that spell." 

"Are you saying you think I didn't have to give up my magic?"

"It does look as though that might be the case. I am sorry. It was your birthright after all." Julie blew out her cheeks.

"Well I'm not about to go looking for another Wishing Star to get it back!"

"You must miss it though."

"...I mean I'm going to need some time to process this, but not really. I think if I'd kept it I wouldn't have ever been able to separate it from what it made me do." She shuddered. "No. I managed fine without magic for forty seven years. I built a good life for myself. I haven't lost anything I _ needed _."

"You lost your job," said Ada gently. "What are your plans for the future?"

"The hospital where I used to work is advertising for an art therapist for the children's wards. I was actually just filling out an application form when you knocked on the door."

"Would you like me to give you a reference?" asked Ada. Julie looked slightly stunned.

"Er… you _ fired _ me?"

"Well, yes. But not for anything that would ever happen again. And the part of you that was really _ you _ was a pleasure to work with. You're a very good teacher you know."

"Right, when I'm not cackling like a hag and turning everyone into dolls."

"None of that was your fault. You can't really take responsibility for anything that happened after Mildred gave you magic. It was making a lot of your decisions for you. I'm still amazed that you fought it for as long as you did. Indigo only lasted about three days, apparently. I don't know whether it helped that you were older, or that the magic was given to you without your consent, but the fact that you kept going for all those months is astonishing. It shows great strength of mind. I'd be happy to give you a good reference."

"Well then, thank you. I wasn't looking forward to having to explain that gap on my CV."

"It's the least I can do," said Ada. "And in return I would appreciate it very much if you could not tell your daughter that we've had this conversation, or at least not mention that we talked about Miss Hardbroom. Mildred _ is _aware of her past, but she has been sworn to secrecy and if she were to find out that I had told you, she might get the impression that it's not such a confidential matter after all. I shouldn't have told you really, it's just that..."

"... You needed somebody to talk to," finished Julie. "Someone who knew everybody involved but wasn't part of life at the school any more. That's ok, I understand. You've been under a lot of stress. I won't mention this to anyone."

~*~

Ada's maglet chimed as she was getting ready for bed. She couldn't help hoping it was Hecate, maybe saying she would be back tonight instead of waiting until the morning. But it was Enid's mother, Narcissus Nightshade, wanting to come and use the school grounds for a promotional photo shoot. Ada swallowed down her disappointment and sent off a quick affirmative reply. A bit of excitement and glamour would do them all some good, she thought. And Enid had been looking decidedly disgruntled over the last day or two. Perhaps seeing her mother would cheer her up. 

Pendle slipped in through the window. He was accompanied by Hecate's cat Morgana, who had never turned up in Ada's bedroom before. She jumped up beside Ada and rubbed against her arm. 

"I know, dear," said Ada, stroking her. "I miss her too. It's _ awful _ without her. But she'll be back tomorrow. She promised." Morgana nosed her way under Ada's arm, curled up against her side and immediately went to sleep. Ada wished that she could be so easily reassured.

~*~

True to her word, Hecate was drinking coffee at the teachers' table when Ada came down for breakfast on Monday morning. She looked exhausted, pale and a little thinner than usual, as though she might have forgotten to eat over the weekend. She wasn't eating now either, just pushing her porridge around the bowl with her spoon and staring into space. She started and coloured slightly when Ada walked in.

Ada felt as though she were approaching a wary wild animal. She moved carefully around the table, took a seat and whispered "Are you alright?" 

"Fine," muttered Hecate, eyes fixed on her bowl. Then she met Ada's gaze and whispered urgently "That girl cannot learn who I am, Ada." Ada was rather startled. She had assumed that one of the reasons Hecate had been so panicked was because Indigo would inevitably recognise her as soon as she heard her name. She hadn't realised that keeping her identity hidden might be an option.

"I know you're not going by Joy any more, but surely she'll guess. She must have known your surname."

"No! No, I never told her," Hecate hissed, now glaring at the doorway where Indigo had just come in with Mildred.

"Oh. Well in that case you're probably ok for the time being. Mildred did swear to keep your secret after all. I'm sorry Hecate, I really am, but I have to stand by what I said before. Indigo must be given a fair chance to succeed here." Hecate's mouth tightened. Ada tried to put a comforting hand on her arm but she flinched away.

"I assure you, trouble will find that girl. It _ always _did." At that very moment a commotion broke out further down the hall. Indigo Moon was right at the centre of it. Ada hid her face in her hands as Hecate leapt up to berate the girl. 

They were obviously in for some extremely trying times.

~*~

Ada stood in her office surrounded by roses. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about them at the moment. It was Friday evening. Since their breakfast discussion on Monday, Hecate had been polite, efficient and evasive, shying away from any attempt at conversation not relating to their duties and avoiding being alone with her. She had also watched Indigo Moon like a hawk, and taken every possible opportunity to punish her for the tiniest misdemeanour. 

Ada felt as though she had lost not only the love she'd had so briefly but all the friendship that had gone before it. It was unimaginably lonely.

A few of the flowers had faded and withered. Ada reached in to deadhead one but drew back with a gasp as blood beaded up from a long scratch across the back of her hand.

"I should have warned you about the thorns." Hecate had materialised in the doorway. "I could have left them off. But I thought perhaps the roses should reflect my personality as well as yours." 

Ada managed half a smile. She sank down into a chair. Hecate closed the door then came to kneel in front of her and took her hand, examining it carefully before fluttering her own fingers in a quick-healing spell. The angry scratch faded to a pale pink line. Hecate kept hold of Ada's hand and kissed the newly healed scar. "I'm sorry I hurt you." 

Ada knew she wasn't just talking about the scratch. She couldn't speak past the lump in her throat so she nodded and tried to smile but she felt her face crumpling and a tear running down her cheek. Hecate looked utterly stricken and leapt up to comfort her, widening Ada's chair so she could slip in beside her and pull her close. Hecate had never spontaneously hugged her before. Ada broke down completely and sobbed like a child. Hecate stroked her back, murmuring over and over "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Ada realised after a while that her tears had made a damp patch on the other woman's shoulder, and pulled back in embarrassment. She sniffed, and Hecate - whose own eyes were far from dry - conjured one of her ridiculously Gothic handkerchiefs for each of them. Ada felt physically more able to speak after a good nose-blow but she wasn't sure what to say. She didn't know where they were. She had no idea what Hecate was thinking, except that there had obviously been a shift of some sort since that morning.

"I don't know how to do this Ada. I don't know how to be with someone. Nobody's ever really loved me back before. I thought if I just told you how I felt and you felt the same way, everything would just sort of fall into place and I'd be able to work out how to be half of a couple, how to do everything right. But I've messed it up already, I made those grand declarations and then the very next day, as soon as something went wrong, I just ran away and stopped talking to you. I did try to tell you I could never deserve you."  
"Are-" Ada's voice came out all dry and cracked- "Are you saying you don't want to be with me after all?"

"No! No, I'm not saying that at all. I'm just trying to explain the way I've been this week. I've been unfair to you and I'm sorry. I couldn't cope. I couldn't deal with these two huge things happening one after another. There's only space inside my mind for one of them and I want it to be you. If- if you still want _ me_?" 

"Oh darling, of course I do."

"Then I want to focus on learning how to be with you, and to make you happy and not hurt you again. And I know I'll keep getting it wrong but I really want to try. As for Indigo Moon… I don't want her here. But I agree that her magic has settled, however much her general conduct leaves to be desired. I'll respect your decision to give her a trial. And I will _ endeavour _ to teach her Potions, but that is all. I can't do any more."

"But don't you think-"

"_ Please _, Ada. Can we just not talk about her any more?"

"In a moment, if that's what you need. But just let me say one thing first. I need to apologise too."

"Ada-"

"I hurt you too. No, don't try to pretend that I didn't. I'm sorry I couldn't do what you asked. I'm sorry I couldn't just send her away to make you feel better. I _ wanted _ to. So badly. But you do understand why I couldn't?" Hecate gave the tiniest of nods. "I had to make that decision as headmistress of this Academy, not as your…" _ Oh dear, what term should I use? What _ ** _are_ ** _ we now? _ "...Er, partner." _ Yes. That seems about right. _ "It's not going to be easy, being together as well as working together. It's going to make some things more complicated. There will be times when we'll have to prioritise our work over our relationship." Hecate snorted.

"We've been doing _ that _ for the past twenty years."

"Fair point." Ada nestled closer to her. "But now we will have other options." 

"Yes." 

"Thank you for coming back." Hecate bridled. 

"It would have been _ highly _unprofessional of me not to be back for-"

"That's not what I meant. I know you would never neglect your duties. But it must have taken a lot of courage for you to come and find me tonight." Hecate bit her lip and nodded. 

"It did. But I missed you so much. I know that sounds silly when you were there the whole time and _ I _was the one who was shutting you out. I've been wanting to talk for a couple of days now but it just… I couldn't quite manage it." There was a pause then she added quietly "Thank you for waiting for me." Ada cupped her face in one hand and ran a thumb lightly over her cheekbone.

"I'd already waited twenty years. Another week wasn't going to change my mind. And I missed you too. So very much, my love." She softly kissed her forehead, then her cheek, and finally her lips. She would have quite happily carried on kissing Hecate all night, but by now they were both smiling too broadly.

Hecate waved her hand towards the roses. The dying flowers vanished. New buds appeared in their place and Ada felt a surge of happiness at the sight. 

Hecate yawned and slouched down in the chair - something Ada had never thought she would see - and tried to rest her head on Ada's shoulder. But her high bun was in the way. She made a small sound of irritation and flicked her fingers towards it. Her hair wriggled out of its confinement and fell down to her waist, half of it spilling over Ada's chest and into her lap.

Ada's breath caught. She usually only saw Hecate's hair completely unbound at the Halloween celebrations. It was something that she secretly looked forward to every year. She had had to stop herself so many times from reaching out to touch it. And now here it was cascading down over her own body while its owner casually rested one hand on Ada's knee. _ Her actual hand on my actual knee! _ Ok, so there was a skirt and a stocking between them but this was still almost more than she had dared to hope for.

She knew they still had a lot to discuss. She couldn't let Hecate decide to ignore Indigo indefinitely. But she was still dizzy with relief that Hecate had come back, _ really _ come back to her. She didn't want to push her away again. And it was late, and they were tired, and all she really wanted to do right now was run her fingers through that glorious silky hair. So she did. 

She still had an arm around Hecate's shoulders and she moved that hand up to Hecate's head, digging her fingers in gently to massage the scalp. Hecate _ purred. _ There was no other word for it. Ada thought again of her similarity to the cats and suppressed a chuckle. She wove the loose-ringleted ends of Hecate's hair through the fingers of her other hand, marvelling at their softness.

The clock struck bedtime. Ada rubbed her eyes.

"Where would you like to sleep tonight?"

"I… would you mind if I slept on my own for a while? I've been sleeping really badly and I don't want to disturb you." 

"Of course, that's fine. We could both do with a good night's sleep."

"Besides," added Hecate with a shy smile, "I think if you were in my bed tonight I might be too… distracted to sleep much." Ada felt a thrill deep inside her at the thought of what that distraction might entail.

"I am absolutely not putting any pressure on you, love, but just so you know… whenever you might feel ready for, er, being distracted… well, I would be more than happy to oblige. Any time." Hecate's eyes widened and she drew in a rather shaky breath. Ada wondered whether she had overstepped the mark. But her deputy was smiling again as she replied "Good to know."


	5. Starstruck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heading back in line with canon this week, but first, here's the lichen potion origin story nobody asked for...

"Come for a walk with me?" asked Hecate after breakfast. "There's something I'd like to discuss." Ada assented readily enough and before long they were wandering through the walled gardens. Hecate looked down at the other woman. After the reassuring and thrilling closeness of the previous night she really wanted to walk holding hands, or even perhaps with an arm looped around Ada's waist. Of course both were impossible - anybody might see them - but she reached for Ada's hand and drew it through her own arm. Surely being seen to walk arm-in-arm was not inappropriate, she reasoned, for close friends and colleagues. That shouldn't arouse any suspicions.

Ada gave her a smile of such sweetness that Hecate's heart skipped a beat and she could have leaned down to kiss her there and then if Dimity and the first year broomstick display team hadn't suddenly streamed past overhead in a noisy gaggle.

"What was it you wanted to talk about, love?" Hecate didn't think she would ever get used to hearing that word on Ada's lips. She knew she could never deserve it, especially after her behaviour this past week, but if Ada was still offering her love, she would be a fool not to take it.

"I thought you might be wondering what convinced me that Indigo Moon's magic is no longer parasitic." 

"Well, yes. But if you're not comfortable talking about it…" Hecate smiled bleakly.

"I'm not. But it's important to clear this up." Ada said nothing but her attentiveness deepened and Hecate plunged into the story. "You'll remember it was the manifestation of Mildred's ancestor Mirabelle Hubble who revealed the secret of the potion that brought the statues back to life. Yesterday afternoon I went to the family trees in search of her to see whether she could shed any more light on our current situation. She did not appear when I called." Ada raised her eyebrows inquiringly. "I wasn't hugely surprised, we didn't exactly hit it off at our last meeting. But my call  _ was  _ answered, by her daughter Annabelle, who told me a most interesting story." She paused to let Mabel Tapioca and Beatrice Bunch go by, their arms full of herbs for the kitchen. Hecate noted with irritation that they appeared to have trampled through her rosemary bed. She would have to have words about that later. She was about to continue when Mildred's confounded dog sped past, hotly pursued by both Mildred and Indigo. As always, Hecate was flooded with anxiety at the sight of her former friend and all her thoughts flew up in the air and came down again in the wrong order. 

"INDIGO MOON! What do you mean by galloping around like a racehorse without looking where you are going?"

"We had to catch Star, Miss Hardbroom, he ran off with Mildred's tie and-"

" _ Enough!"  _ Hecate retrieved the mangled tie with a spell and flicked it into Mildred's hands, curling her lip in disdain at the state of it. "Go back inside and stop wasting my time and yours."

There was a subdued duet of "Yes Miss Hardbroom" and the two girls slouched back towards the front door. Hecate watched them inside, still fuming at the loss of her composure. How was she meant to accomplish  _ anything _ in this place when her nemesis might pop up and derail her at any given moment?

"Come on."Ada steered her towards the main gate. "Let's walk down the field and into the woods where we won't have any more interruptions, shall we?" 

Away from the castle walls and the clamour of the girls, Ada shifted a little closer so that their hips were touching as they walked. She prompted "Annabelle Hubble?" and the contact and her gentleness calmed Hecate sufficiently to be able to pick up the threads of her tale again.

"Annabelle Hubble was only fifteen when her mother sacrificed both their magical powers to save her coven. She felt the loss of her magic very keenly, and especially resented never having been given the chance to consent to Mirabelle's split second decision. She felt violated. After all, it was not only her own powers that had gone, but those of her unborn daughters and granddaughters for generations to come. She refused to speak to her mother, and after a while stopped responding to anybody else too. I understand she had some form of breakdown. Annabelle had an older brother, Greg. The Stone had not taken his magic, as being male he would not have been able to pass it on to the next generation. He and his father - who of course was also still magical - could not bear seeing Annabelle so brokenhearted. The two of them came up with a plan that they thought would restore her magic without breaking what her mother had promised to the Founding Stone." Ada drew in her breath. 

"They used a Wishing Star?"

"They did. Although, being rather more skilled in Potions than their descendant, they made their own instead of resorting to theft, which helped to keep the whole matter under the radar of the magical community of the time. Mirabelle helped them, feeling guilty and desperate to regain her loving mother-daughter relationship. She may have lost her own powers but she still had years of magical learning to contribute to their cause. They did not tell Annabelle what they were doing. She simply woke up one morning with magic coursing through her veins, stronger than it had ever been before. They had a joyous family reunion, and for a week, everything was wonderful. Then Annabelle started noticing gaps in her memory, and sometimes caught the others looking at her oddly, or exchanging glances when they thought her back was turned. Her spells did not always work quite as she had expected, in fact they were becoming increasingly erratic and destructive. Even more frightening was the fact that she found she did not care. Her mother became afraid of her and she still did not care. She gloried in the creation of bigger and better spells, magical extravaganzas designed to show the witching world she was back in business. The family, of course, had forbidden her from revealing her new powers to anybody. She ignored them. What did  _ they  _ know? They just wanted to hold her back. They were getting in the way. It was time to move on. She wanted to rule the whole witching world and punish those who had snubbed or patronised her after the theft of her powers. 

Mirabelle and Greg left for London early one morning to visit the National Witching Archives to try to research Annabelle's new affliction, leaving her in the care of her father, who, as an extremely powerful wizard, had been confident that he could handle his daughter alone. As you can imagine, the knowledge they gained in London was even worse than they had feared. They returned in all haste, but it was already too late. They found their house burned to the ground, with Annabelle a smoke-blackened statue in the ruins, standing over the body of her father."

Hecate had unconsciously led the way to Indigo's clearing. She realised that she'd never reset the misdirection spell after bringing Mildred here. Unlike her to be so careless. But what did it matter now? She gazed around, feeling an unexpected sense of loss at the emptiness of that familiar space. She had always hated seeing the stone Indigo, but she had at least been  _ used  _ to it. Now there was nothing there except two rough prints where the living girl had tugged her feet out of the ground they had spent thirty years sinking into.

Ada was staring at her in open-mouthed horror. Hecate dragged her mind back from the empty footprints in front of them, noting with a tiny flicker of amused affection that her beloved looked like a small child being told a ghost story.

"She  _ killed  _ her  _ father?"  _

"Not directly. He died of smoke inhalation. He might have escaped if he hadn't seen his daughter turn to stone."

Hecate fell silent, her eyes moving back to Indigo's empty place. Ada followed her gaze.

"Is that where…?" Hecate nodded and, to her shame, felt her lip tremble. She sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek. 

"I can't get used to her being gone from here. I know it's silly." Ada's face was full of compassion.

"Would you like to sit here for a while?"

Hecate nodded again and conjured two hard wooden chairs facing the space where the statue had once been. Ada's mouth twitched and she waved a hand. The chairs vanished and were replaced by a small pink sofa.

"There's nothing wrong with being comfortable you know," she said mildly, in answer to Hecate's disapproving frown. She sat, and patted the space beside her.

They sat in silence, shoulders touching, while Hecate wrestled with her thoughts, which were running round in the same old circles of guilt and dread and denial, never arriving anywhere helpful. She sighed and rubbed her temples and looked at Ada, who had been sitting so patiently beside her for goodness knew how long. She remembered she was supposed to be explaining to her about Annabelle Hubble.  _ Stop being so self-indulgent, Hecate.  _ ** _Focus_ ** _ . _ She took Ada's hand.

"I'm sorry I got distracted."

"It's perfectly understandable."

"Where was I?" Ada winced.

"Annabelle turned to stone."

"Oh. Yes." Hecate reached out a foot and absently swept aside a leaf that had blown into one of Indigo's footprints.

"They told people Annabelle had died in the fire with her father. Mirabelle and Greg cut themselves off from their friends and family, and moved to the other side of the country. They put the statue at the end of their garden.

It wasn't long before Mirabelle realised that Greg was up to something. Finally he confessed to her that he was working on a way to bring his sister back to life. She was horrified of course. Annabelle had killed her husband and destroyed their home. How could he possibly want her back? Greg explained that he was trying to bring her back without the corruption to her magic. Mirabelle did not believe it could be done. She refused to speak to him about it again and went back to mourning her husband and daughter, wishing with all her heart that she had never made that sacrifice for the sake of the Founding Stone, especially for a coven that had largely ignored her once she lost her powers. But after some time had passed, she gradually became interested in Greg's work despite herself, and eventually ended up assisting him as she had with the creation of the Wishing Star. It took them ten years. Even when the formula was complete, they could not be certain that it would work. As Mirabelle sprinkled the potion over her daughter Greg was poised to cast a sleeping spell if it became necessary. But it was not. Annabelle woke with her magical powers intact and no memory of the last few hours of her life. She had only very hazy recollections of the days leading up to her turning to stone. She was heartbroken when they told her her beloved father died in an accident ten years previously and had no idea that she bore the responsibility for his death.

Just as you did, they performed a number of tests on her, checking the status of her magic. Everything came back normal, although her powers were still stronger than the magic she had been born with. They watched her closely for some time, and regularly repeated the tests, always with the same results. Annabelle was back to normal. 

Greg had been headhunted several times in the past decade for prestigious jobs abroad. Now that his sister was back to keep their mother company he felt free to accept an exciting research job in Paris. Annabelle settled down into a reclusive life with her mother. They lived fairly contentedly together, although they did argue. Annabelle thought her mother should find out more about the non magical world after having lived without her powers for so long, but Mirabelle wanted nothing to do with it. Annabelle could perform any spells she needed. When Annabelle reached twenty five (though of course she was really  _ thirty _ five) Mirabelle died of natural causes. Wanting to feel closer to her mother, the grieving Annabelle unlocked Mirabelle's private diaries and began to read. She was devastated to discover the truth of what she had done and developed a horror of her own magical powers, even though she knew they were no longer dangerous. She held it together until after her mother's funeral, but when it was time for Greg to return to his young family in France, she refused to accompany him. She kissed him goodbye and then sought out the spell for relinquishing her magic. She gave up her powers and walked out into the non magical world to make a new life for herself."

Ada's face was full of distress.

"What a sad story! That poor family…"

"I know," said Hecate. "But you see what it means for our situation? The lichen potion really does rehabilitate the magic. Indigo Moon should be no more of a danger to us than any other slapdash foolhardy student." She raised her eyebrows. "Although considering what some of them have got up to recently I suppose that's not saying much. What I mean is I'm sorry I didn't take you at your word after you ran those tests."

"That's alright," said Ada. "I mean... things would have been a lot easier if you had, but I do understand why you couldn't. I doubted myself actually after you left. I went to see Julie Hubble to try and understand more about how all of this works." She sighed. "I wish we'd thought to do some tests on her at the time,  _ before  _ asking her to give up her magic _ . _ "

Hecate hadn't considered the implications of her discovery for Julie Hubble. She knew Ada would think it ungenerous of her but she was glad the woman had not had the chance to keep her magic. Knowing Ada she probably would have ended up relenting and giving her job back and then Hecate would have been elbow deep in Hubbles all over again on top of having to deal with Indigo Moon.

"Hecate…" Ada hesitated. "Are- are you going to talk to Indigo now?" Hecate's whole body went rigid.

"No."

"She's clearly struggling to settle in. Don't you think she might do better if she knew who you were?"

"Ada, just because I know she won't snap and kill us all doesn't mean I want any kind of relationship with a person with whom I no longer have  _ anything _ in common. I still don't want her here. Every time I see her, I just… Never mind. I don't want to talk about it. Besides, if she found out who I was she would tell the whole school and I would lose all my authority. I can't risk that." Ada sighed. 

"I don't think anything would make you lose your authority, Hecate. But just as you wish."

~*~

True to form, Indigo Moon disrupted the afternoon study period by first breaking a cauldron and then getting into a fight with Enid Nightshade. Hecate was just about to issue a detention when Sybil Hallow burst in.

"Miss Hardbroom! Everyone! Come outside quickly!"

To her intense irritation, the girls immediately spilled outside without waiting for her permission. Not wanting to be caught following in their wake like an unsuccessful sheepdog she transferred into the centre of the courtyard and found herself standing with Ada surrounded by what seemed to be at least half the school, all cheering madly.

Narcissus Nightshade and a couple of sidekicks were performing a series of ridiculous aerobatics overhead. Then they disappeared in clouds of purple glittering smoke and materialised on their feet a little way away. Ada and the girls broke into rapturous applause. Enid ran to greet her mother.

Hecate ground her teeth. This was reminiscent of Pippa at her most infuriating. Showing up out of the blue, disrupting the routine, making an attention-grabbing spectacle. It would take forever to calm the girls down again afterwards. Ada looked a little contrite.

"I agreed to this while you were away and then I forgot to mention it."

"Agreed to  _ what _ , exactly?"

"They want to use the castle for a photoshoot. I thought it would make a nice change for the girls after all the stress we've had lately." 

"I hope they are  _ paying _ us for this photo… shoot?" Ada bit her lip.

"Um… Well they  _ are  _ doing an interview for the school magazine…" Hecate rolled her eyes.  _ Honestly. _ She left the school for thirty six hours and Ada managed to pass up an excellent opportunity to meet their budget for refurbishing the library.

"Very well met!" Ada stepped forward and clasped both of Mistress Nightshade's hands. Hecate's insides twisted a little, as they always did when she saw Ada touching somebody else. It was ridiculous, she knew it was just friendly politeness. But Ada's touch was so searingly significant to her that she had a hard time imagining anyone else being indifferent to it. She moved to stand at Ada's shoulder and gave the absolute bare minimum of a greeting gesture.

"Yes, thank you for turning our school into a circus," she said crisply.

Ada was assigning jobs to the clamouring girls. Hecate could see that she was going to be occupied here for some time. She decided to go back inside and use the unexpectedly free Potions lab to work on some of her own research.

She was just getting into her stride when footsteps sounded in the doorway behind her.  _ Ethel Hallow.  _ Gods, even her  _ walk  _ was smug. Hecate didn't bother to turn around.

"What is it, Ethel?" She hoped her tone of voice would make it clear that she was not interested in being disturbed for trivialities. Ethel didn't sound at all put off. 

"Miss Hardbroom, you know me. I don't like to tattletale…" Hecate almost snorted out loud. She wished Ada had been there to exchange a glance with. "It's about Mildred," Ethel continued, sounding smugger than ever. "And  _ Indigo. _ " And Hecate  _ did  _ turn then, in time to see Ethel's triumph at getting a reaction. "Indigo Moon has disappeared, Miss Hardbroom. Nobody knows where she is. I saw Mildred and Maud flying off to look for her. They left the school premises, so she must have too. I thought it my duty to inform you."

Hecate caught her breath. Maybe this was it, maybe this was the chance to get rid of the girl, to free herself from the crushing weight that descended every time they came face to face. To get her out of here for good, so Hecate could relax and concentrate on Ada, without this constant dread of confrontation and exposure. Up until now Indigo's behaviour had been highly irritating, but she hadn't done anything that came close to meriting expulsion. But leaving the school without permission…  _ Surely _ that had to be enough... It crossed her mind that she herself had left the school without permission just a week ago. But of course that was  _ entirely  _ different _ . _

"Thank you Ethel," she said. You may go." Ethel strode off again, ponytail swishing victoriously.

Hecate cast a few finding spells. She couldn't pinpoint the exact location but Indigo was well out of bounds, and Mildred and Maud seemed to be almost in the same place. But Enid was nearby in the grounds. She transferred to the spot and found her clinging to her mother.

"I trust I am not interrupting," Hecate said, continuing smoothly on without giving them a chance to answer. "Enid Nightshade, I have received troubling reports that your friends have left school without permission." She spotted Ethel hiding none too subtly behind a nearby tree, trying to listen in. She ignored her and kept her eyes trained on Enid to see whether she could scare her into a confession. Enid looked very uncomfortable but said nothing. But Mistress Nightshade stepped in. 

"They're, ah, collecting Mandragora root. For me. I'm going to stay a little longer and put on a show for the girls." She held Hecate's gaze confidently. Hecate didn't believe a word of it. But she couldn't afford to accuse one of the richest parents in the school of telling lies. She stared back.

"If they are not back in time then you will all be in serious trouble." Her eyes flicked to Enid's and held them while she transferred away, just for maximum intimidation. 

~*~

Hecate tried to return to her work in the lab but she couldn't concentrate. She found that having no idea where Indigo was, especially after seeing that empty clearing this morning, was making her feel itchy and anxious. She even caught herself hoping that the girl hadn't got herself into any kind of trouble.

But she still felt triumphant when, after having put off her performance until the last possible minute, Mistress Nightshade finally ran out of excuses and there was still no sign of the truants.

Ada came around the corner, face alight with anticipation at the excitement of the girls and the prospect of the coming show. Hecate hurried to join her. She didn't want to darken Ada's mood, but this couldn't wait any longer.

"I'm afraid it appears that Indigo Moon and Mildred Hubble are guilty of a major violation of school rules." She couldn't keep the satisfaction out of her voice. To her surprise, Ada merely smiled and pressed her hand into the small of Hecate's back, fingers curling around her belt for a second. Before Hecate had had time to recover from this unheard of public intimacy, the girls were shouting and pointing at three rapidly accelerating figures overhead.

She strode forward to confront them, but Narcissus Nightshade chose that moment to begin the show. With an extravagant flourish she filled the space with swirling smoke and made the three girls appear in a completely different place from where Hecate had been expecting them. She changed direction and loomed up behind them.

"_Where_ _have you_ _been_?" she spat, glaring at each of them in turn. This was it, her moment of triumph. But then Enid Nightshade swanned in and pulled all three girls up onto the stage, leaving Hecate standing alone and defeated in front of the curious eyes of most of her students. The only way to save her dignity was to pretend that everything was fine and let the Nightshades carry on.

Hecate felt wrong-footed and decidedly cranky. She turned away and moved towards the top tier of seats, where Ada was smiling and patting the space beside her just as she had in the woods earlier on. She sat down with bad grace, not quite ready to accept sympathy for her disappointment just yet.

"I hope you realise the girls would be far better occupied revising for their exams than wasting their time on all this empty headed giddiness?" 

"Now now Hecate. Let's keep an open mind. You never know, you might find yourself enjoying it." Hecate tutted and rolled her eyes. She was still seething at having missed her opportunity to be delivered from Indigo Moon. As the show got going she glanced over at the girl, now sitting with the other third years. Indigo was leaning forward in her seat, chin in hands. She was positively trembling with excitement, eyes wide, mouth slightly open, her entire being focused on the stage. Hecate was assailed by an image of Indigo looking like that once before, and Joy with her, watching a troupe of dancers performing at a festival in the park. She suddenly felt intensely uncomfortable, as though she had accidentally read somebody's private diary and seen something she hadn't wanted to know.

Trying to push both Indigo and Joy out of her mind, she turned back to the show, which up until now had been mostly smooth talking and flashy special effects, nothing worthy of holding her attention. But then Mistress Nightshade began to sing. Hecate had not been familiar with her work before - she very rarely indulged in listening to music - but against all her expectations Enid's mother proved to be very talented indeed. Despite herself Hecate found she was slowly becoming absorbed in the music, almost to the exclusion of everything else.

Ada turned to look at her, eyes dancing with amusement, and Hecate realised she had been unconsciously tapping her toes in time to the beat. She looked away and forced her feet to keep still, but a few minutes later she realised her fingers were keeping time instead. She felt Ada shaking with suppressed giggles beside her. Hecate pointedly ignored her and fixed her eyes on the stage again. But she exaggerated her martyred expression just a little, because she did love to see Ada laugh.

She had intended to interrogate Enid's mother once the performance was over but once more Narcissus Nightshade was one step ahead of her. Citing a pressing engagement, she quickly disappeared with all the fuss and fanfare of her arrival, blowing a kiss and a wink to Enid as she went.

Mildred, Maud, Enid and Indigo took one look at Hecate's face and made themselves scarce, all looking as though butter wouldn't melt in their mouths. She was about to call them back but was stopped by Ada's hand on her arm.

"Let them be, love," murmured Ada. Hecate's mouth fell open.

"But they broke the rules!"

"They simply did as Mistress Nightshade asked them. They weren't to know she hadn't checked with one of us first." Hecate sighed. She recognised the determination behind Ada's gentleness. Indigo Moon was not going to be expelled today.

"That's as may be," she muttered, eyes still narrowed as she watched the last of the girls file back into the castle. "But I would  _ very _ much like to know which part of that gaudy display so urgently required Mandragora root…"


	6. Finding Joy

"Miss Bat?" Indigo Moon approached Gwen where she was sitting alone with Ada at the breakfast table. "The girls say you've been here for years and years. I wonder if you can help me find my friend from thirty years ago? She was my best friend and I really miss her. Her name was Joy. Do you know where she might be now?"

_ Oh gods. _ Ada hadn't thought of this, hadn't prepared for it. She thanked all the stars that Hecate had been delayed that morning by a mirror call from a Potions supplier. _ What if Gwen tells her? _ She tried to signal to her colleague to stay silent but Gwen, as always at this time of the morning, was still more than half in dreamland and did not notice. Ada could see her sluggishly beginning to scroll through a mental roll of past pupils. 

"Joy? Joy, Joy… it does ring a bell..."

_ Please don't let her get there. Please don't let her make the connection. _

"Wait!" cried Gwen. "But of _ course! _I know who Joy is - and you will too, Ada, when I tell you-"

"Of course!" said Ada desperately, eyes boring into Gwen's. "That must be _ Jacinta Joyce _ you're thinking of. Couldn't cast a spell to save her life."

"Is it?"

Ada kicked her under the table, slightly harder than she had intended judging by Gwen's intake of breath. But at least she had now got the message. She slipped into character as the doddery old lady that many of her pupils believed to be the only facet of her personality. Indigo sighed. 

"What about you, Miss Cackle?"

Ada did her best not to tell an outright lie. "All our pupils are special of course. But names and faces fade, over the years. And I might never have taught her, dear. I spent a few years away from the school around that time." 

"Ok. Well, thanks anyway."

Gwen watched the dejected Indigo back to her table and then turned back to Ada.

"Why are we not telling her?"

"Hecate doesn't want her to know."

Gwen's eyebrows went up, then down. "Do you really think that's wise?" 

Ada passed a hand across her eyes. "Not really, no. But it's not up to me. It has to be her decision."

"I suppose it does." Gwen's gaze moved back to the middle of the room. "But that child deserves to be told the truth."

~*~

Hecate left the midsummer picnic early, as soon as the fallout from the opposite spell had been resolved. She had a crushing headache, a combination of insomnia and emotional exhaustion at having to witness the catastrophic marriage proposal, dealing with the various fights that had broken out among the students who had eaten the cursed cake, and even at seeing the shining happiness of the engaged couple once the spell had worn off. It was all just a bit much to cope with, and as Ada had been happy to preside over the rest of the picnic without her help, she was making her way towards her storeroom to find something to ease the pain and clear her head a little.

She wondered whether she might be sleeping better if she allowed herself back into bed with Ada. It might well be easier for her to drift off in Ada's comforting presence. But Hecate was so restless and anxious at night just now, and if they were to continue running the school together at least _ one _ of them needed to be properly rested. Ada shouldn't be disturbed. However much Hecate might want her close by. Besides, there were other factors involved in being in bed together. Ada hadn't been shy about showing her desire for her, and Hecate felt that desire mirrored very strongly in her own body but it was all a bit overwhelming and Hecate was never sure at any one time quite how far she wanted to go. Of course Ada was patience itself and would never want to make her feel uncomfortable. But Hecate so dreaded disappointing Ada in any way that mostly it just felt easier not to start anything at all. And of course she was so very tired at the moment that sex was often the last thing on her mind. She raised a hand to rub her eyes. _ Gods, _she needed that headache potion.

Hecate stepped into the hall and was halted by the sight of a stranger standing with a small group of girls - a middle aged woman dressed in pink. Before she could begin to guess who it might be, she saw Indigo Moon hugging her, and heard the excitement and pride in her voice as she said "This is my best friend Joy!"

"Well met everybody," said the stranger, and then she raised her eyes and spotted Hecate, frozen in shock. Her face took on the expression of a rabbit confronted by a fox. "I was actually just on my way out," she gabbled, and tried to bolt for the door. Hecate immediately transferred to block her path, although the spell sent a jolt of pain through her already pounding head.

_ "Not so fast," _she hissed. The imposter started babbling again, still trying to save face. Hecate couldn't believe she had the gall to continue her charade. She cut her off mid-sentence. 

"_ Enough _of this nonsense! How dare you put words into other witches' mouths?" She flexed her fingers in a cancellation spell, and was not much surprised when the pink-clad woman dissolved into the form of a frightened looking Mildred Hubble.

She saw the light go out of Indigo's eyes and experienced a fleeting urge to rush forward and throw her arms around the girl, as the real Joy would have done without hesitation. How dare Mildred impersonate Joy, how dare she make Indigo look like that, how _ dare _she make Hecate feel things she didn't want to feel?

"It was _ you, _all along?" asked Indigo, with a catch in her voice that twisted Hecate's stomach.

"Some friend!" scoffed Ethel. "The joke's on _ you _, Indy." She patted Indigo's shoulder in false concern, eyes gleaming with malice. Indigo didn't bother to hide her devastation. 

"Why would you _ do _ that?" she whispered.

"No! You don't understand!" pleaded Mildred. But Indigo did not stay to listen. She turned from her and clattered away up the stairs. Hecate grabbed Mildred's arm to prevent her from following.

"I told you not to _ interfere _ , Mildred Hubble! You see the damage you have done? Not another _ word _about Joy. Understood?" 

"Yes Miss Hardbroom," whispered Mildred. She looked as though she might be sick.

Hecate could not face dealing with this situation any further. Still glaring at Mildred, she transferred away to her lab.

The headache potion made her feel both better and worse. With the pain toned down there was suddenly room in her head for a lot more thoughts and emotions, and she didn't want to engage with any of them. Mentally shoving aside an image of Indigo's stricken face, she concentrated fiercely on listing the ingredients of the potion she had just taken, visualising each one as strongly as possible, imagining how it would feel to chop or grate or crush each one correctly, how the juices of the leaves and the oils of the seeds would stain her fingers, how the steam rising from the cauldron would smell at every stage of the preparation. _ This is my best friend Joy! _crowed Indigo in her head. Hecate breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, imagining the flutter of the final handful of dragonfly wings falling down into the cauldron, the way they would swirl into the liquid as she stirred it, turning the whole mixture a shimmering lilac colour. The fake Joy's soft hesitant face and pastel outfit kept flashing back into her mind but she ignored them and thought about decanting the potion into individual doses, making sure to mentally sterilise each bottle first. 

Her breathing was under control now and her mind was quieter. She would wait until Ada had finished her duties for the day and then take her aside and tell her everything that just happened over a cup of tea. Ada would understand. Ada would be warm and caring and empathetic as always, and hopefully she would help Hecate feel calm enough to be able to go to bed early and get some much needed sleep.

~*~

"Hecate," said Ada, very gently. "I think you need to tell her."

~*~

Hecate dreamed.

She dreamed of the joy draining out of Indigo's face to be replaced by anger and evil and stone. She saw the bewildered fear in her friend's eyes as she raised a hand to her cheek and realised what was happening to her.

"Joy," Indy whispered. Hecate ran to her and held out her arms. But Indigo flinched and backed away, then turned and ran a few steps before all at once giving in and turning fully to stone.

But this time it wasn't just Indigo. The whole Academy was petrifying before her eyes. The windows lost their transparency. Every blade of grass in the courtyard, every cat in the corridors, every bat in the rafters became hard and still. And the human inhabitants were not immune. Ethel's ponytail calcified mid-swish. Mildred froze forever in the act of tripping over a stone bootlace. A stone Dimity crashed out of the sky on a stone broom that could no longer fly. And _Ada. _Bright, beautiful, warm, gentle Ada, slowly turning cold and grey and indifferent. There was nothing Hecate could do to stop it, and it was all her fault. She waited to turn to stone herself, willing, almost wanting to surrender to oblivion if it meant she could stay close to Ada forever and not have to feel like this any more. But her body did not change and her thoughts did not disappear. So Hecate stood alone in the middle of a school that was now a mausoleum, and she screamed and she screamed and she screamed.

~*~

Ada was wrenched out of sleep by an awful sound from the next room. She was too groggy and disoriented to manage a transference spell so she grabbed a cardigan and stumbled blearily down the corridor until she reached the door to her deputy's room. She found Hecate sitting bolt upright, not screaming any more but wild eyed and shaking.

"Nightmare?"

"Mm."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Do you want me to hold you?"

"Yes. Please." Ada climbed into the bed and pulled her into a hug, one arm holding her close while the other hand stroked her hair. Hecate clutched at the hem of Ada's cardigan, running it through her fingers over and over, seeking some kind of reassurance from its softness. Ada rocked her and murmured a string of comforting nonsense to help guide her back to the here and now. They stayed like that for a long time.

Eventually Ada stirred and said they should probably try and get some more sleep. Hecate made a noise that was almost a whimper and her grip tightened on Ada's arm.

"Worried about more bad dreams?"

"Yes."

"Why not take a dreamless sleep potion? I have one in my room."

"Maybe." Hecate didn't look convinced. Ada raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

"They frighten me," Hecate admitted. "I don't like that moment when you realise they're working and you can feel them starting to take over your brain. I don't like handing over control like that. But I _ really _do need to sleep…"

"How about a spell instead? If I sat with you and held your hand and cast it whenever you said you were ready?" 

"Would you? I think… I think that would feel alright…"

"Of course."

"And you'd come and wake me on time in the morning?"

"Yes, love. Don't worry."

~*~

Ada sat for a while watching Hecate's peaceful breathing. She longed to slip back under the covers and curl around her sleeping body, to hold her close and keep her safe until the rising bell sounded. After all, Hecate would be none the wiser, under the influence of her spell. But she hadn't given her permission for that. _ Come and wake me in the morning, _she'd said. So Ada pulled the blankets up closer around Hecate's shoulders and padded back to her own rooms, hoping nobody would see her, thinking wearily that there must be a better way of reaching Hecate's bedroom when she was too tired to transfer.

~*~

Ada called Indigo into her office the next day. 

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," she said. "Magic still feeling alright?"

"It's fine. It just feels normal."

"Good." 

"Miss Cackle, are you _ sure _ you don't know where my friend Joy is? Now that you've had more time to think?" 

Ada swallowed. "I'm afraid not, dear." Then her curiosity got the better of her. "You, er, never found out her last name?"

"No, she never told me. She said it was embarrassing. She was from some really old magical family, she said it was too much to live up to." 

"I can identify with that," murmured Ada. Indigo puffed out her cheeks dispiritedly.

"I expect she's got married and changed her name by now anyway."

"_No." _Ada spoke without thinking. The thought of Hecate married to anybody else was unbearable. Indigo looked a bit startled. "...I mean," Ada continued hastily, "We witches don't usually change our names when we marry. Magic is passed down through the female line, you know, so it's _our_ names that get passed on to our children. It's the wizards who change their surname."

"What happens if it's two witches who get married? Or two wizards?"

"Well, then they tend to hyphenate."

"So, Mr Rowan-Webb…?"

"I believe he had two fathers."

"And will he be Mr Bat, once they get married?"

"Legally, yes. But I think he'll keep Rowan-Webb for teaching. It could get a little confusing otherwise." There was a short silence. Ada cleared her throat.

"I heard about what Mildred did yesterday," she said quietly. Indigo shrugged. 

"She didn't mean any harm, Miss Cackle, she was just trying to help." But her mouth trembled as she spoke and her eyes filled with tears.

"Mildred's good intentions don't have to stop you feeling unhappy about it," said Ada. Indigo sniffed.

"It's just… I really thought it was her. I was so happy. I've missed Joy so much. And then she got taken away again. And _ Ethel _ saw, and Miss Hardbroom yelled at us…" Ada didn't know where to look. 

"Tell me more about Joy," she said before she could stop herself. "What was she like?" Indigo lit up.

"Oh, she was the _ best _ ! The best friend you could ever have. She was so clever, she could do anything! And so funny, we used to laugh until we were nearly sick. And we used to dance together in the park, she _ loved _ dancing… But her favourite thing in the _ world _ was ice cream. We'd spend all my magic show money at the van by the swings. And one time," Indigo's whole face was shining with the memory, "this American tourist gave me a massive tip for giving her directions and we took the money into town to a proper ice cream shop and it was the best ice cream _ ever. _ I had lemon and Joy had raspberry. It was so brilliant. But that was the last ice cream we had together, the teachers found her after that and we weren't allowed to see each other any more." She lapsed into silence, remembering. Then she sighed and spoke again.

"Joy didn't let that stop her though. The best thing about Joy was, she was always, _ always _ there for me, whatever happened." Ada felt a pang deep in her chest. She suddenly didn't want to be having this conversation any more.

"Look," said Indigo, pushing her sleeve up. "She made me a friendship bracelet. She tied it on me thirty years ago and I've never taken it off. And I never will," she said defiantly. "Er, it's not against school rules is it?" Ada hesitated.

"Normally jewellry is not permitted. But I do understand that this is a bit different. Just push it back up under your sleeve and I'll overlook it."

"Thanks Miss Cackle."

"You're welcome," Ada managed to say. She drew in a deep breath. "Now, tell me how you're getting on in your studies…"

_ Not very well _, was the short answer. Mildred was a well-meaning and determined teacher and her own marks had improved tremendously since her first year. But she still lacked the experience to give Indigo the thorough grounding she needed.

Although Ada found the girl surprisingly confident in both Witchory and Chanting.

"Miss Bat's given me a few extra lessons," Indigo explained. "She thought I could use the help." 

"_ Did _ she now," said Ada, her eyes beginning to twinkle. 

"Yes, and she said I could ask Mr Rowan Webb anything I wanted about Spell Science." Indigo smiled. "They're both so nice. But what I really struggle with is Potions. And I _ can't _ ask Miss Hardbroom for help, she hates me." Ada bit the inside of her cheek.

"Well," she said eventually, "I can't claim to be an expert in Potions but I can certainly pass a third year exam. Come to me if you have any questions there." Indigo frowned.

"Would that be ok? I mean aren't you the person who's going to mark my exam?"

"Yes, I mark all the exams, along with Miss Hardbroom. But I'd also like to think that any of my girls could come to me if they needed help in their studies."

"Miss Hardbroom's not going to mark _ my _ exam is she?" asked Indigo, horrified.

"No," said Ada. "No, I think I'd better do that one myself."

They spent half an hour going through basic Potions questions and she recommended a couple of different textbooks to study from. Then Hecate walked into the office without knocking, arms piled with papers. She stalled completely when she saw who was sitting at the desk with Ada.

Ada and Indigo both started guiltily.

"Well!" said Ada hurriedly, "I think that will be all, Miss Moon. You can go now." Indigo grabbed her bag and fairly ran to the door in her desire to get away from Hecate. Ada closed her eyes.

"What was _ she _ doing here? Is she in trouble again?" Hecate was gripping the papers so tightly that her nails had gone through the edge of one of them.

"No! I was just double checking her magic… you know. Making sure it's still settled. It seems fine." Hecate didn't look entirely convinced, but she put down her paperwork and changed the subject. Ada tried to listen to her report about changes to their insurance policy but she was struggling to pay attention. Her heart ached for Indigo. She was just a lost child who needed her best friend, and even with her knowledge of all the circumstances, even after having talked it all through again last night, Ada still couldn't quite fathom how Hecate could bear to leave the poor girl in ignorance any longer.

~*~

Hecate was surprised to find the office empty when she tried to join Ada for their usual evening drink. She supposed Ada must have been waylaid by one of the students. She stood at the window and watched the sun beginning to set, waiting for her to come back. When Ada did not reappear she became concerned and sent out a locating spell. Ada appeared to be in her bedroom. Was she sick? Had she somehow forgotten Hecate and gone to bed without saying goodnight? That would be very unlike her. Hecate fiddled with her timepiece, not knowing what to do. She tried the spell again, just to make sure. This time Ada seemed to be in _ Hecate's _bedroom. That couldn't be right. She cast the spell a third time and the results showed Ada somehow in both rooms at once before the magic cut out completely as Ada apparently cast a transference spell. Two seconds later she appeared by the fireplace, looking apologetic but also quite pleased with herself.

"Sorry Hecate. I didn't realise it had got so late. Are you alright?" Hecate didn't want to admit that she'd been checking up on Ada's whereabouts so she said she was fine and they settled down for a quick cup of tea before bed. Hecate didn't talk much, worried that her lack of sleep must be affecting her magic. Because why on earth would Ada have been in her room?

As bedtime came and they walked towards their rooms Ada became twitchy. She started talking too fast about something irrelevant, a sure sign that she was nervous. Hecate was about to ask what was going on when Ada checked the flow of words and touched her arm. 

"Will you come into my room for a minute?" she asked. "There's something I'd like to show you." Completely mystified, Hecate followed her in. Ada stood in the middle of the room biting her lip, and at first Hecate wasn't sure what she was supposed to be looking at. Then Ada's eyes flickered sideways, and following their direction Hecate saw that there was a new door in Ada's bedroom wall. Ada waved a hand and the door opened, showing Hecate's own bedroom on the other side.

"It's like the roses," Ada whispered. "Only you and I will ever be able to see it. But I thought it could be useful, in the night. If you needed me…" She trailed off uncertainly. Hecate swallowed, overwhelmed by Ada's thoughtfulness and the commitment behind it.

"I think that might be the nicest present anyone's ever given me," she said quietly, trying to let Ada see how much this meant without giving in to tears. Ada's smile was like the sun coming out. Hecate kissed her on the cheek. "Do you really mean it? I can really just knock on the door any time I need you?"

"Any time. And you don't have to knock."

Hecate became very flustered.

"But Ada! You might be getting _ undressed!" _

Ada waggled her eyebrows."You never know your luck."

~*~

Some hours later Ada woke to find Hecate hovering uncertainly by the bed. 

"I did knock," she whispered, "But you didn't hear me, so I came in, but I didn't want to wake you…" She was twisting her fingers in agitation, looking as though she might bolt back through the new door at any moment. Ada rolled into the cold side of the bed and lifted the blankets to invite Hecate into the space where she had been lying. She noticed that Morgana had followed her mistress and was saying hello to Pendle on the rug by the bed.

"Did you have another nightmare?"

"No, I just couldn't sleep and I was lonely." Hecate pulled the blankets up to her chin, face still creased with worry. "Is… is that ok? I can go away again if…" Ada wrapped both arms around Hecate to stop her going anywhere. 

"Don't be silly. Of _ course _ I want you to stay." Hecate tentatively put her arm around Ada's waist and nestled into her shoulder. Ada reached up to stroke her hair.

"Ada."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. I just like saying your name."

"I like you saying it too."

Kissing Hecate in bed felt so very different from kissing her in the office. They were touching along the whole length of Ada's body now. She ran her hand down Hecate's back, feeling the warmth of her through the silk, the slight ridges of her spine, the wonderful firm reality of her being _ here, now, _ in Ada's bed. She felt the heat of Hecate's hand on the small of her back, fingernails pushing lightly into her flesh, making her tilt her hips forward against Hecate's stomach. Greatly daring, she took Hecate's lower lip between her teeth and ran her tongue over it, causing her to make a sound that Ada very much wanted to hear again.

What might have happened next she never knew, because what _ did _happen next was that one of the cats jumped up onto the bed, lost its balance and dug its claws into her foot in an attempt to right itself. 

By the time they had recovered from the shock and firmly banished both cats from the room, the moment had fled. Twenty years ago, recapturing it would not have been a problem, but it was nearly three in the morning and Ada tried unsuccessfully to smother a huge yawn as Hecate healed the scratch on her foot. Then Hecate yawned too, climbing back under the covers and snuggling close again. She kissed the tip of Ada's nose. "Let's go to sleep."


	7. The Broomstick Rebellion

"It's not what it looks like!" said Indigo desperately.

"No? It looks like a reanimation spell went disastrously wrong and exploded pink dust all over my Potions laboratory."

"Oh. Then it _ is _ what it looks like..."

"Hm." The lab was a mess. Hecate hadn't seen it look this bad since... well, since the last time Mildred Hubble and friends had exploded something. But _ then _ none of them had been on probation. She looked through the pink haze at the wooden spoon wobbling precariously next to a cauldron. "The spoon you used to mix the reanimation potion I presume…" She sighed in mock regret. "And today of _ all _ days. You will both have to clean it up. There will be no last minute cramming for your examination…"

"But it was all me, Miss Hardbroom! Indy only just got here before you did." Hecate pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows.

"... And yet she is covered in pink dust…" Neither of the girls knew what to say to that. Hecate let them suffer for a moment. But she imagined the reproach in Ada's eyes if she were to hear that Hecate had deliberately prevented the girl from studying. And by this point it was unlikely that any last minute revision would make much difference. "As you wish, Mildred. You shall clean all this up _ on your own _." She was careful to make that sound like a worse punishment. She didn't want to let the girls think that she was letting them off lightly by sparing Indigo. Mildred looked relieved but Indigo was horrified.

"But my exam's at two o'clock! I need her to help me revise!"

"It will be ok," said Mildred bracingly. "I'll get all this cleaned up in record fast time and then I'll come and find you, ok?" She looked a lot less certain than she sounded. 

As Indigo turned to leave, Hecate flexed her fingers to remove the dust that was still coating her from head to toe. No point in letting her traipse it around all over the school. She returned her attention to Mildred, who was giving her an odd look.

"You will stay here until this laboratory is absolutely spotless. No help. No magic. Understood?" The gold ring of a locking spell shot out of her finger and secured the door. Mildred stared at her. Hecate smirked a little and transferred away.

~*~

Ada's face lit up as Hecate came into the office.

"Ah Hecate, perfect!" Hecate felt herself smiling. She loved that she could make Ada look like that just by walking through the door. But Ada was still speaking. "Would you mind fetching me a small cauldron for Indigo's exam please?" Hecate felt as though she had been punched in the stomach.

"_ You _ are conducting her assessment? I assumed _ I _would do it…" She saw Ada bite her lip.

"That was certainly an option, yes. but she deserves a fair, unbiased go at it, does she not?"

"You do not trust me to be impartial?" whispered Hecate. Ada hesitated. Hecate could practically see the cogs whirring in her brain as Ada tried to be both truthful and tactful at the same time. It might have made her smile if the conversation hadn't been so upsetting.

"I just feel that, given the complicated history you two have, it may be… difficult." Hecate drew herself up.

"A professional puts aside personal feelings in the line of duty!"

"And you have always been most rigorous in that regard," said Ada hastily. "But this is _ different _, Hecate. You know it is. Are you any closer to telling her who you really are?" Hecate stared at her. Ada looked back hopefully. There was a long silence.

"...I… will fetch a cauldron," said Hecate faintly, and left the room.

Her mind was bubbling with hurt and indignation and guilt. She _ would _ have marked Indigo's papers fairly, of course she would. She wouldn't have cheated just to get the girl out of the way. But... she might have conducted herself a little more forbiddingly than usual. She might have tried to intimidate Indigo Moon into making just enough mistakes to be sent packing…

She had a moment's surprise when the door to her lab wouldn't open. In her agitation she had forgotten locking Mildred inside. She sighed. The cauldron she wanted was probably still full of pink dust. She transferred into the centre of the room.

"And how are we-" She thought her eyes must be playing tricks on her. Mildred grinned.

"Finished, Miss Hardbroom!" Hecate's eyes roved over the lab. It did appear to be spotless. What was going on?

"You did not use magic? You had no help _ at all _?" For the second time that morning she saw somebody thinking very fast indeed.

"I didn't use magic on the lab and not a single person helped me," said Mildred confidently. "So, if I'm done here…?" Hecate knew she must have cheated somehow. But she suddenly couldn't be bothered to try and work it out. _ Let the girl go and help Indigo revise. Maybe that will show Ada that I _ ** _can_ ** _ be trusted to be fair. Maybe it will show me, too… _

"Yes you may go to... _ her." _ Relief flooded Mildred's face. " _ After _ you return the cleaning equipment to the kitchen and the broom to the shed."

"Yes Miss Hardbroom!" Mildred gathered everything up and clattered away. A tapping sound came from behind Hecate and she saw the reanimated wooden spoon still moving feebly of its own accord. She thought of how tightly Mildred had clutched the broom, how there had been some sort of scuffle when she had turned her back for a second. Hecate smiled grimly. There were many things wrong with Mildred Hubble. But nobody could accuse her of being short on initiative. The girl and her reanimated broom seemed to have done a fairly thorough job. But Hecate still flourished both hands to cast a deep cleaning spell over the whole lab. She wasn't going to entrust the safety of her working environment to an unreliable third year student. Now to find a suitable cauldron for Ada.

~*~

Hecate was striding along the corridor with the cauldron floating ahead of her when she came across Indigo Moon curled up on a window seat, sobbing her heart out. She stopped short, leaving the cauldron bobbing in mid-air. She wondered vaguely why Mildred wasn't there. Hecate wanted to move on and pretend she hadn't seen the girl. But Indigo had noticed her now and was looking awkward, tears still streaming down her face. 

"Miss Hardbroom! I was just... taking a bit of a break." She sniffed noisily, and without thinking about it, Hecate stepped forward, held out a hand and conjured a black lace handkerchief. Indigo gave her a wary look, but reached out and took it. She wiped her eyes, blew her nose and then offered the crumpled soggy ball of fabric back.

"You may keep it," said Hecate hastily, recoiling slightly. There was an awkward silence. Then Hecate nodded towards the waiting cauldron. "It is for your examination. Not long now." Indigo's face was very bleak. "...You do not seem very ...confident."

"Confident I'm gonna fail. Still, you'll get what you want. I'll finally be gone from here." Hecate felt an unexpected pang of something very like fear, and the guilt that was always simmering away inside her suddenly threatened to boil over. She concentrated on keeping her voice as neutral as possible.

"If that happens, what will you do? Where will you… go?"

"Who knows? I should really get back to it." She stood up. "That exam won't fail itself…"

Hecate watched her trudging away down the corridor, shoulders slumped. The girl looked just as tired as she felt. Hecate crossed her arms tightly over her chest and pressed her nails into her biceps.

Seeing Indigo as an ever more weatherbeaten statue had broken Hecate's heart every time, though loyalty and duty had kept her going back over and over again. But seeing her now, soft and alive and tearstained - and still so very _ young - _ was a different kind of heartbreak. It really hit her then, that the three decades since they met just _ had not happened _for Indigo. That all the time Hecate had spent changing and hardening and growing up had passed her old friend by like smoke. And it wasn't just Indigo's energy and recklessness that had snapped back to life, but also all the grief and vulnerability she had confided to the sympathetic Joy so long ago.

If Joy had been frozen in time that day, and had awoken with no memory of the last few hours of her life, wouldn't she have devoted every spare minute to finding her lost best friend?

Indigo had dropped something on the floor as she left, a scrap of pinkish ribbon or some such frivolous rubbish. Hecate bent to retrieve it, intending to send it flying into vanishment, when suddenly it came into focus in her hand.

Her_ bracelet _.

Well, Indy's bracelet. But she was the one who had spent countless hours making it, insisting on painstakingly weaving the coloured strands together the non-magical way as Indy had shown her, because the time she devoted to its creation was a measure of her depth of feeling for her friend. The threads at one end had frayed undone. Probably being turned to stone and back had not been good for them. Hecate instinctively reached out a finger and tapped the trailing threads. They wove back together again.

She shook herself. _ Sentimental nonsense, Hecate. Pull yourself together. _ The bell rang and she remembered she had a class to teach. She vanished the cauldron and sent it to Ada's office, then set off to her lab.

~*~

Hecate got through the class as best she could and dismissed the girls early. She sat alone in her rooms running her thumb over the weave of Indigo's bracelet. Flashes of the past kept bursting across her vision and she didn't have the energy to either dismiss or pursue them. She wasn't sure which she wanted to do. She put the bracelet down on the desk and rose to her feet. Something was pulling her to the far corner of the room. She found what she was looking for under a pile of heavy books. An old wooden chest studded with metal. The clasp was stiff from disuse and cobwebs tore as she raised the lid. Lifting aside a collection of diplomas she came to a little carved hexagonal box. She hesitated a moment, not sure she could bear to release what was inside. 

But she opened it anyway.

Her own friendship bracelet, the twin of the one she had found on the floor. The symbol of a bond that was supposed to have been unbreakable.

The floodgates were open now and memories were surging through her, stripping away the years and the trauma responses, reminding her who Indigo really was, who Joy really was.

_ Sitting with Indy in the shade of a tree, heads bent over handfuls of coloured threads, weaving and unpicking and redoing, tongues poking out in concentration, trying to make something beautiful. Joy trying to balance on a bicycle. Indy trying to balance on a broom. Joy's hair streaming out behind her as they ran and danced and cartwheeled through the park, socks round their ankles, shoelaces trailing, both of them ending up in a laughing heap on the sunny grass time and time again. Indy insisting on spending all her money on ice cream just to make her happy. _

Hecate had never eaten ice cream again after that summer.

One thing was now absolutely clear in her mind. She didn't want Indigo to leave. She didn't want to lose her again. Why had she wasted all this time trying to fight her?

Indigo _had _to pass that exam.

~*~

To Ada's surprise Hecate returned to the office just as the exam was about to start. She was clutching Indigo's friendship bracelet. There was an air of jittery hopefulness about her that Ada hadn't seen since the night Hecate had arrived in her office and tried to confess her love. Ada glanced up at the roses growing as a permanent reminder of that evening. What would be the outcome of _ this _ encounter?

Hecate marched up to Indigo and held out the bracelet.

"You dropped this earlier. I thought it might be some sort of... lucky charm…" Indigo's face lit up as she took it.

"Thank you Miss Hardbroom!"

Ada was tempted to cancel the exam and stage a heartwarming reunion right there and then. But Hecate still didn't quite seem to have it in her to take the next step. So Ada handed Indigo the paper.

"You have one hour," she said, as kindly as she could. "You may begin."

~*~

Hecate hovered anxiously throughout the practical examination, her eyes flicking between Indigo, who kept making small accidental explosions, and Ada, who was glumly marking red cross after red cross on the scoresheet. Indigo hadn't lied when she'd said Potions was her worst subject. The written exam didn't go much better. Indigo scribbled away furiously, stopping to chew her pencil, the friendship bracelet sitting like a talisman on top of the page she had already written as if she thought that some of Joy's magic might leak out and improve her work. Ada could feel Hecate itching to step forward and correct the paper before time was up. 

"Pencil down now Indigo," Ada said, once Hecate's timepiece showed that the hour was up. "Now. Let's move outside for the final part of the test - flying. You may be able to redeem yourself there." So far, Indigo had not scored a pass. But the flying test was weighted heavily and if she did well - or even just not too badly - she could still bump her marks up to earn herself a place at the school next year. Ada didn't know how well Indigo flew on her own. It hadn't come up in their discussion of her studies and she hadn't thought to ask Dimity about it. But surely her flying _ couldn't _ be worse than her Potions? Ada was wracking her brains to think of ways she might be able to give Indigo a second chance if things didn't work out today. Perhaps it wouldn't be against the rules for her to allow a retake in a few weeks' time? If Hecate really wanted the girl to stay now, and it seemed very much that she did, then perhaps the pair of them could give her some private tuition once the school term was over and let her take the exam again? Or maybe they could use Hecate's influence with Pippa Pentangle to find her a place there? After all, Pentangle's was much more used to accepting students from non magical backgrounds and probably had quite different entry requirements.

Mildred joined them outside, and a few curious onlookers hung around at a distance in case anything exciting might happen. Ada handed Indigo the broom.

"I want to see confident control, good speed, smooth manoeuvres and finally, poise and grace, which of course means riding side-saddle." Indigo's jaw dropped. 

_ "Side-saddle?" _Ada couldn't get her smile to reach her eyes. It looked like this was going to be bad.

"Best of Cackle's luck, Indigo!" She exchanged a worried glance with Hecate. Indigo balanced herself gingerly on the hovering broomstick and rose slowly into the air. It actually wasn't a bad take off, if a little wobbly. But things began to go wrong as soon as Indigo tried to move. The broom jumped violently and she appeared to have mixed up forwards and backwards. She ended up clinging on upside down like a sloth, shrieking as the broom continued to rocket around in all directions. Ada could see some of the watching girls filming it on their maglets. This might be worse than she had feared.

Indigo managed to get herself right way up again though, which at least showed determination. She dived low over the courtyard and ploughed through the giggling onlookers, who scattered with shrieks of alarm. She did seem slightly more in control now and Ada couldn't work out whether she had done that on purpose. Hecate was smiling slightly. Evidently she thought so. Indigo made a fairly neat turn and faced them all again.

"If I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail _ my _ way." Was it Ada's imagination or did the girl look straight at Hecate as she spoke? Indigo repeated her swooping dive, this time skimming right in between Ada and Hecate, who had been standing quite close together. If only Ada could be certain that she'd done that deliberately, it would be a demonstration of impressive control. Hecate's smile widened, despite having had to duck out of the way. Ada became determined to give the girl the benefit of the doubt. But Indigo had vanished over the rooftops now and everybody held their breath as they waited to see whether she would reappear.

And reappear she did, with a vengeance. She soared back over the battlements, inexplicably leading an honour guard of empty brooms that followed her every move in a triumphant procession across the sky. Ada's heart soared with her as she took out her green pen and ticked off all the remaining boxes on the scoresheet. It was enough. Indigo Moon could stay. Mildred and friends were leaping up and down yelling and waving their arms in celebration, and Hecate looked as though she were only just stopping herself from doing the same.

Indigo had landed now and was chattering excitedly as she made her way over to the teachers. Ada beamed at her.

"It's a pass... _ just!" _Hecate was bouncing on her heels a little, fizzing with suppressed excitement as Indigo rushed to bask in the congratulations of her friends. She turned to Ada, face suddenly full of resolve.

"If Indigo Moon is staying then she needs to know the truth." Ada put a steadying hand on her deputy's shoulder. She had been waiting to hear those words for weeks but she was suddenly filled with worries about how the confession might be received.

"Are you quite sure, Hecate?" Hecate nodded.

"It is the fair thing to do. For... us both." She pushed up her sleeve to reveal a coloured bracelet almost identical to Indigo's. The twisted ends were dangling on the palm of her hand. It looked as though she had been holding onto them all the way through the test. Ada felt her eyes filling with tears at the sight. Better late than never. She squeezed Hecate's shoulder and gave her a little push in the direction of her old friend. Hecate took a few hesitant steps forward, eyes alight with hope. Then out of nowhere Ethel Hallow's voice cut through the moment like a knife.

"I found your file, Miss Hardbroom!" she said with studied casualness. Hecate turned. Ethel was smirking all over her face. "Funny... I didn't know your real name was _ Joy _ ." Hecate's head whipped back to Indigo. Ada wrung her hands. _ Oh gods, no. Not now. Not when everything was just about to come right. _Indigo was frowning.

"Her name is _ what?" _

"Isn't that the name of your old friend, Indy?" said Ethel, sounding for all the world as though she had only just made the connection. She handed Indigo the file. Hecate wavered uncertainly between the two girls and Ada moved to stand at her side. She placed a hand on Hecate's back. _ I'm here, love. Whatever is about to happen, I'm here. _

Indigo stared at the photograph inside the file and then back up at the teacher who had given her such a hard time.

"Joy…" she whispered. Hecate nodded, still looking hopeful. Indigo glowered at her. _ "You?!" _ Ada felt Hecate flinch back against her hand.

"Yup,"said Ethel. "I found it under Mildred's mattress." Mildred looked at the ground.

"It's true?" said Indigo slowly. "And you knew... the whole time?" Mildred bit her lip.

"Yes. I did, but it's…" Indigo shoved the file at Mildred and stalked away. "You passed the exam!" called Mildred desperately. "You can stay!" Indigo whirled around.

_ "Stay? _Why would I want to stay?" Hecate gave a soft little cry of despair and clutched at her wrist. Ada couldn't bear it. She rushed forward. 

"Indigo, wait, please. You don't understand-" Indigo rounded on her. 

"Did _ you _ know?" Ada winced. She wanted so much to tell a comforting lie and let the girl think there was still somebody here she could trust. But she could see in Indigo's eyes that she already knew the truth, so she nodded. Indigo's face twisted in disgust. "You witches! _ Liars! _You can keep your school. I'm out of here." She called to Mildred's dog and they both ran off through the gate.

"Indy! _ Stop!" _wailed Mildred. But without a backward glance Indigo flung a smokescreen spell behind her. By the time it had cleared, she and Star were nowhere to be seen.

Ada looked back towards Hecate in time to see her carefully wipe every trace of emotion from her face. She gave Ethel an expressionless stare and transferred away.

"Well Ethel, I hope you're proud of yourself," Ada couldn't keep the bitterness from her voice. The girl was glowing with triumph. "Because you might want to stop and think about how wise it really was, after your record this year, to alienate the teacher who has always been your biggest champion - just to get rid of a girl who never actually did you any harm."

Ethel looked as though Ada had slapped her. She started to protest but Ada held up a hand. "Go to your room, Ethel. I'm sick of the sight of you. You can stay there until tomorrow morning. Somebody will bring you your supper." She turned her back on the astonished girl and walked over to Mildred. "Why on _ earth _ was Miss Hardbroom's student record under your mattress?" 

Mildred was almost in tears. 

"Indigo broke into your office early one morning and started searching through the old student records looking for Joy. I found her in there and I managed to get to the right one before she did, and I _ had _ to hide it from her, I mean what else could I do? Miss Hardbroom had made me promise not to tell Indigo who she was but I couldn't give _ her _ the record for safekeeping because then she would have known we were in your office and Indy would have been in trouble!" She sniffed and swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Can I go and look for her, Miss Cackle?"

"Yes, go on. Take Maud and Enid with you - and Felicity too, then you can split up and search in pairs. But Felicity, anything you find stays _ out _ of the blog, do you understand? I don't want to see _ any _ of this being splashed around on the witching web."

"Oh but Miss _ Cackle- _"

"Please."

Felicity looked crestfallen but sighed and nodded.

"Go on then, all of you. Take your brooms, you'll cover more ground that way."

~*~

There was a knock at Hecate's door. She did not answer. She had told Ada she wanted to be alone and anybody else was unlikely to insist on coming in. The knock came again, and again she ignored it. She had taken her hair down and changed into her pyjamas because her dress was too stiff and tight to let her do what she really wanted. Which was to crawl under the blankets and curl up in a fetal position, clutching her knees to her chest. Because if she held herself still enough, and tightly enough, she might not break apart.

"I take it you're not coming to the staff meeting then." Gwen was standing by the bed. Hecate hadn't heard her open the door. She saw her colleague taking her in. Wild eyed, wild haired, face streaked with mascara and tears. She sat up and pulled a blanket close around her.

"...No. I do not believe I am in a position to properly carry out my duties at Cackle's any more. How can I demand the best behaviour from the girls when I myself have behaved... unforgivably?" Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Oh, what a lot of cauldron curd!"

"Miss Bat!"

"It's all about what _ one _ girl thinks isn't it? The one who's finally cleared off, just as you wanted. Except now that's made you feel even _ more _ wretched hasn't it? So you've just decided to lie there in your pyjamas and let that poor child get lost in the woods."

"Miss _ Bat _!"

"Don't you Miss Bat me, Joy Hecate Hardbroom. I've known you for a great many years and I have the right to speak my mind." Hecate felt as though the bed and everything else around her were sliding away, leaving her with nothing solid to hang on to._ Don't call me that. Please don't call me that. She's not- I'm not… _But she didn't know who she was any more. So she stayed quiet and clutched her chest and listened to what Gwen had to say.

"I think you _love_ making yourself feel wretched because you accidentally got a girl turned to stone. Well… fine." Gwen shrugged. "But if you _really_ want to suffer, I have a suggestion. Find her. Bring her back. And _teach_ _her_."

Hecate stared at her. 

"She can't have gone far," Gwen pointed out. "Ada said she didn't take her broom. But the longer you leave it, the farther she will go."

Hecate's voice came out very small.

"She _ hates _ me, Gwen. I made her hate me. It's too late."

"If there's one thing I've learned in the past few years, it's that while you're alive, it is _ never _too late. I'm getting married in two days. I'm eighty nine, for goodness' sake." Hecate shook her head.

"You should have seen her face. She doesn't want anything to do with me." She ran her fingers through her tangled hair. "What's the point in my trying to find her? Even if I could it would only go wrong. I always get everything, _ everything _ wrong! I _ always _ say the wrong thing, make the wrong decision..."

"Always?" asked Gwen quietly. Her eyes lingered on Ada's spare reading glasses, sitting on Hecate's bedside table. She seemed entirely unsurprised by their presence. And Hecate thought of Ada. The wonder in her eyes when she'd seen the roses. Her joy at their waking up together that first morning. Her tears of relief at their reconciliation. The gift of the door. The dozens of other little ways she had shown Hecate, over the past weeks, that this really _ was _ what she wanted. That _ Hecate _ was what she wanted. And it was Hecate who had kickstarted all of that, by being brave. By breaking the habit of thirty years and making the decision to talk about her feelings...

"...Maybe not _ always _."

She thought of herself then too, laying down the law to Mildred Hubble and countless other students over the years._ A witch takes responsibility. A witch does not whine when things don't go her way. A witch makes things go her way. _

She let the blanket fall from her shoulders and got up from the bed.

~*~

Hecate had excused herself from that afternoon's staff meeting in favour of searching for Indigo. Dimity breezed in, bubbling over with excitement.

"Is it true, what the girls are saying? _ HB _ was Indigo Moon's famous best friend?" Ada bowed her head.

"Yes, it's true."

"Oh _ wow." _ Dimity clearly couldn't believe her luck. Ten years of sparring with Hecate and she had suddenly struck gold. Ada really didn't have the energy for this.

"Leave it, Dimity," said Gwen.

"Oh come on, this is _ brilliant!" _

"I said _ leave it." _Gwen's voice was uncharacteristically sharp. It gave Ada the boost she needed.

"Gwen's right. You're not to mention this to Hecate. Or gossip about it with the girls. Understood?" Dimity nodded. "Thank you. This mess has resulted in one of our girls going missing. Indigo knows nobody. She has nowhere to go. Anything could happen to her. It's not a laughing matter."

"I'm sorry," said Dimity. "I just overheard the girls talking. I didn't realise Indigo was missing. What are we going to do?"

"We'll leave it a few hours," said Ada. "There are several people out looking for her now. But if she isn't found I'll have to report her disappearance to the Magic Council, and the non magical authorities as well."

~*~

Hecate had flown all around the borders of the forest with no success. Now she was walking through the trees, picking her way over roots, stumbling a little in her heels, holding onto her hovering broom for balance. 

Indigo Moon may not have passed her exam with flying colours but she had somehow picked up the ability to block locating spells. Hecate couldn't help feeling a twinge of exasperated pride. Blocking was way beyond the Basic Witching Proficiency level. Probably one of the reasons Indigo had scored so low in her test was that she had kept being distracted by wanting to experiment with more exciting and advanced spells instead of slogging through the basics. Joy had been a bit like that too. Magic had come so easily to her, felt so natural, that she tended to skip steps, focus on quick results rather than methodology. Why waste time on something small and boring when you could do something spectacular? Like stealing the world's most powerful potion and turning your best friend into a magical walking nightmare… 

She thought of how she had snapped at Ada, last time she was in the forest. … _ a person with whom I no longer have _ ** _anything_ ** _ in common. _ But was that really absolutely true? After all, both she and Indigo had instinctively bolted and made themselves unreachable as soon as things got too much for them, instead of having the courage to stay and face their emotions and communicate with the people who had hurt them. Maybe they _ were _ still more similar than you might think… But that didn't mean she had the slightest idea what she could say to her old friend, if they _ did _meet.

Hecate had ended up in Indigo's clearing again, coming at it from a different angle this time. The empty footprints had widened and faded after several days of heavy rain. She still couldn't believe Indigo wasn't here, either as statue or human being. She'd had a stupid romantic conviction that this would be where she found her. That Indigo would have gravitated back to the place where it all went wrong and that if Hecate could only find her there_ , _ then maybe somehow everything would come right again. That there, she might know how to talk and Indigo might know how to listen. She carefully placed her own feet into the prints and stood in the spot that had been all Indigo knew for thirty years. Hecate closed her eyes. _ Come on Indy, where are you? _

A shadow passed overhead and her heart lurched painfully in her chest. But it was Dimity, manoeuvring expertly through the treetops before coming to land a short distance away. Hecate sighed.

"What are you doing here?"

"Brought you a sandwich. You missed supper. Can't have you roaming around in the woods on an empty stomach." She handed over a squashy parcel of bread and cheese. Hecate examined it dubiously. "Come on HB. We need to keep your strength up. And I thought maybe you could use some help. Where are we looking?"

They searched until long after the light went, but they did not find her.

~*~

That night Hecate walked straight in without knocking. Neither of them said anything. Ada opened her arms and Hecate curled against her and cried herself to sleep.

~*~

Ada passed Hecate her morning coffee and rearranged her own pillows so she could sit more comfortably. She settled back with her cup of tea.

"How did you sleep?" Hecate sipped her drink.

"Better than I thought I would. I was just so _ tired." _Her gaze flicked to the window and the distant woods beyond. "I wonder where Indigo slept…" Her forehead creased with anxiety and she started drumming her fingers on her cup. Ada watched her for a while.

"Would you like me to arrange cover for your lessons today? Give you more time to find her?" Hecate's face was full of conflict. "I'll do it," Ada decided. "I don't think you'll be able to concentrate much on anything else until she turns up. And though the authorities are searching as well now, I think it would be best if she were found by somebody she knows."

"I'm glad it's the last week of term," said Hecate. "I _ hate _letting you down. But you're right, I can't… I just can't focus on anything else today. I'm sorry."

"Most of the girls are only doing revision anyway. Any of the staff can cover for you without too much disruption. Don't worry about letting me down, love. This is more important. And if-" she hesitated, "-well if you don't find her right away, then you'll have all the time in the world once the holidays start."

"I might have to look much further afield by then. She might go _ anywhere. _I… I might not be able to see you very much, Ada. If I don't find her right away."

Ada raised her eyebrows.

"Of course you'll see me."

"But I just said I'm not going to be here!" Hecate was digging her nails into the palm of her free hand. Ada put her cup down and gently loosened Hecate's fingers, curling them around her own.

"And did you really think I was going to let you go alone?"

"But you always have so many plans for the summer…" The surprise on Hecate's face almost broke her. Even now, she didn't believe Ada would drop everything to come with her.

"None of them are set in stone. This is _ more important _," she said again. "Besides, I can't say I feel like spending much time with my mother this year. If she'd behaved better when you first met Indigo we probably wouldn't be in this situation now." Hecate looked even more shocked.

"_ I _was the one who behaved badly, Ada. It was me who caused all the trouble."

"You just acted like a child, Hecate. Because that's what you were. My mother was old enough to have made better decisions. Deliberately isolating an unhappy and lonely child was never going to turn out well." Hecate did not reply. She was clearly determined to shoulder the blame all by herself. She drank her coffee in silence for a while. Then she put it down and turned back to Ada.

"Thank you for saying you'll come with me. I hate searching alone, not knowing if or - or _ how _ I might find her…"

"We _ will _find her, love. I'm sure of it."

"Young girls _ do _disappear, Ada. Sometimes they're never found. Or not until it's too late." Ada closed her eyes. 

"I know. But they're usually not accompanied by a familiar with strong magical powers. And Indigo herself is far from powerless you know. She had a lot of magic at her disposal and from what I've heard about her childhood she's fairly used to being self sufficient. I'm sure we'll find her. I'm sure we can fix this." She captured Hecate's other hand, which had been twisting the blanket into knots, and kissed it. "And I'm still really proud of you for deciding to tell her, Hecate, even though Ethel never gave you the chance." Hecate pulled her hand away.

"But it didn't make any _ difference! _ It was all too late. I wasted so much time being selfish. If I'd only listened to you and told her _ weeks _ago-"

"-It might not have gone very well," said Ada. "You weren't ready, love."

"I should have been ready. I should have been there for her. Then she'd be _ safe _now and everything would be alright." Ada wasn't sure what to say. Because much as Hecate loved beating herself up, there was a considerable amount of truth in her words. But she wasn't going to say so. She shifted closer and rested her head on Hecate's shoulder.

"Ada," said Hecate quietly. There was something in her voice Ada didn't like the sound of. "Ada… If she's still missing in the autumn, I… I don't think I can come back to the Academy." It seemed to Ada that everything inside her was falling away, leaving her hollow and so fragile that she might shatter at any moment.

"We could still be together," Hecate said desperately. "I'd come and visit whenever I could. But I don't think I can take up my job again until I've found her. I'm sorry, Ada. I know I promised I'd always be here for you. And I know I've already broken that promise once. I want to come back, of _ course _ I do. But I have to find her first." Ada couldn't speak. She just nodded, and held onto Hecate's hand, gripping so tightly that her knuckles went white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't get my head around the fact that in canon, Mildred is the only person who bothers to go out and search for Indigo before the end of term. I don't know how many days are supposed to elapse between her disappearance and the wedding but I wanted to get Hecate deciding to go out looking for her a lot earlier than in the show so I shifted her conversation with Gwen to happen on the day Indigo disappears.


	8. Witch Switch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween, folks!
> 
> Have some witchy wedding fluff.

Ada stood doubtfully in front of the mirror. She had loved this dress when she saw it in the catalogue but now it had turned out to be a brighter pink than she had realised, as was the lipstick she had bought to match it. It was a much stronger shade than anything she usually wore and she wasn't quite sure she could carry it off.

"I'm heading out, Ada." Hecate had appeared in their private doorway wearing a plain dress and sensible shoes. Dressed for combing the woods. Ada's face fell.

"You're not coming to the wedding?"

"I don't think so. I'm not really in the mood for all that celebration. I'd rather be doing something productive. I'll go and give Gwen my best wishes before the ceremony of course. But I don't think I can face it." Ada felt a stab of disappointment. It would have been their first public event as a couple. Even if nobody else would have known that, Ada had still been looking forward to it. But of course Hecate should do what was best for her. 

Hecate turned to leave, and then turned back again as though seeing Ada properly for the first time. She stepped forward and traced her fingers down the length of Ada's sleeve. 

"You look lovely by the way," she said. Ada flushed with pleasure.

"You don't think it's too much?"

Hecate bent and brought Ada's hand to her lips.

"It's perfect. You're _ beautiful _." She gave a small smile. "Enjoy the wedding. I'll see you later."

~*~

As headmistress of the Academy Ada was in charge of welcoming the guests as they arrived. Most of them were already here now, and the Great Hall was full of happy chatter from the human guests as well as the occasional squeal as somebody tripped over one of the small army of frogs who had turned up to support Algernon.

Mildred Hubble trudged into view clutching her broomstick. Her hat was horribly dented and there were leaves in her hair. She looked resigned to being told off.

"I know, Miss Cackle. I'm in trouble for leaving the premises again." Ada sighed.

"I don't feel I can object to your going out looking for Indigo. But you need to _ tell _ me beforehand. I can't have girls leaving the grounds without my knowledge. And I'd rather you didn't go alone. You know students are only supposed to go out in pairs." Mildred shuffled her feet.

"I'm sorry Miss Cackle. Maud and Enid had a rehearsal and I didn't think to ask anybody else. I won't do it again." She looked so unhappy that Ada wanted to hug her. "I'm almost glad Star went with her. At least she's got someone looking out for her. Which is more than I could do."

"You did all you could Mildred. You proved yourself to be a responsible, kind-hearted witch, as I hoped you would. Your future here is secure."

"But how can I stay, Miss Cackle? Knowing that I let her down like that?" _ Oh Mildred. You and Hecate really are more similar than either of you would ever admit... _

Before she could answer the girl they were interrupted by another of Miss Bat's relatives. By the time Ada had dealt with her, Mildred was nowhere to be seen.

The next arrival came from the sky. A flock of doves carrying an ornate little treasure chest. It must be from the Great Wizard. In the midst of the Indigo crisis, Ada had forgotten this would happen. She unfolded the note tied to the top.

_ Dear Miss Cackle, as is traditional I am sending a Wishing Star as a wedding gift for Miss Bat and Mr Rowan Webb. I trust I can rely on you to keep it safe in your office until after the ceremony, when you may present it to them on my behalf as I am unfortunately unable to attend. _ (Ada allowed herself a smirk at that, knowing full well that the reason the Great Wizard was unable to attend was because nobody had invited him.) _ Since you have had security issues with this potion in the past I have locked the box with a charm that none of your students will be capable of undoing. Yours respectfully, Egbert Hellebore, Great Wizard. _

Ada rolled her eyes._ Fabulous. Another sodding Wishing Star. That's all we need. Except... Except maybe it is... _

She was seized with a ridiculous desire to steal the damn thing and use it herself. To bring Indigo safely back and stop Hecate leaving and make everything alright. _ More _ than alright. The temptation was dizzying.

But she saw a vision of Hecate's face if she ever found out. If she ever realised that the girl had come back not because of their friendship or a desire to learn but because Ada had taken it upon herself to override Indigo's free will and left her with no choice. To do that would be to go against everything Ada was. And to then lie to Hecate about it would be unforgivable.

She left her post and took the box to her office. She didn't feel very happy about leaving it there.

But Hellebore had assured her that only an adult witch or wizard would be able to open the box. Ada fixed it to her desk with a temporary sticking charm too, just to be on the safe side. She grabbed a passing first year. 

"Now Myrtle, please tell Miss Drill that I need a responsible third year posted on that door and given strict instructions not to let anyone in. _ Not _ Mildred Hubble or Ethel Hallow though, have you got that?" _ Some people should be kept as far away from wishing stars as possible. _

Once Felicity Foxglove had arrived for guard duty Ada went back to the front door to welcome any latecomers.

"Afternoon, Miss Cackle!" Julie Hubble, all dressed up with a sunflower in her hair, slightly out of breath from walking up the mountain. 

"I didn't know you were coming, what a nice surprise!" 

Julie grinned. "It was very kind of them to invite me when I only worked here for a few months. But I wanted to tell you, I got the art therapy job!" She was glowing with pride.

"_ Wonderful! _Oh that's marvellous news."

"And they want me to start next week!"

"Excellent. Although that will mean you don't get to see Mildred so much when she comes home…"

Julie shrugged. "Perils of being a single mum. We do have a holiday booked in a few weeks. And at least I'll be working sensible hours in this job, no more night shifts. We'll manage." 

Ada smiled. "Well I've just seen Mildred, so she won't be far away. You go and find her and enjoy the wedding together. I think she could do with some cheering up."

"Mm," said Julie. "She told me about Indigo disappearing. How is HB taking it?"

Ada didn't quite know where to start. "Not well." Julie patted her shoulder.

"Let me know if there's anything I can do."

~*~

Dimity Drill, chief wedding planner, was looking decidedly stressed.

"Where _ are _those girls?" she muttered, pacing to and fro in the aisle. Ada wasn't paying much attention.

"I did so hope Miss Hardbroom would be joining us," she said forlornly.

"Yes Miss Cackle," said Dimity, not very patiently, "But the thing is, we have a much more _ important _issue-" An elderly frog hopped up onto the empty aisle seat next to Ada and gave an enquiring croak.

"Sorry," she said politely. "I'm saving this seat for somebody. There's some space reserved for frogs in the front row, you'll get a better view from there." The frog bowed and moved on.

Hecate had made it fairly clear she wasn't planning to attend. But Ada still wanted to keep her seat free. Just in case.

"Miss Cackle-" Dimity tried again. But she was interrupted by the start of the Wedding March on the organ as the guests all stood to welcome the arrival of the bride. Dimity gave up. She slipped past Ada and took the seat on her other side. They both beamed fondly as Gwen appeared in the doorway, looking radiant. And just behind her...

_ Hecate?! _

...What in the name of all the stars was she _wearing?_ Ada wasn't the only one who was gaping at her. Whispered exclamations were buzzing around the hall. Miss Hardbroom dressed from chin to ankle in black was not an uncommon sight. But Cackle's Academy had never before seen Miss Hardbroom decked out in a dress so flamboyantly frilled and ruffled that it looked like a giant Gothic loofah. She had a flower crown in her hair. And she was clutching a bouquet out in front of her as though it were dragging her along. This was a moment that was going to pass into school folklore and stay there for many years to come.

Hecate shot Ada an agonised glance as she drew level. She looked like she wasn't quite sure how she'd ended up in this situation.

Gwen looked around in confusion after greeting her bridegroom. 

"Um… shouldn't there be someone here to, you know, _ marry _ us?" Of _ course. _That was what was missing. The registrar. Ada had been too distracted to notice up until now. She glanced inquiringly at Dimity, who was looking anxious again. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted once more by a ringing voice from the back of the hall.

"So sorry, everyone." A round faced man was standing in the doorway. "Normal service will now be resumed." He proceeded to make his way down the aisle, lurching and stumbling so dramatically that he almost lost his balance. Hecate confronted him when he reached her.

"Have you been at the pond water? It was only for the frogs."

The registrar glared at her.

"I'm fine, bristle-brain!" he retorted. Hecate was so startled by this that she sank into the seat beside Ada without saying another word. They exchanged a worried glance. Gwen had had to wait even longer than they did to find happiness. She deserved this to go well.

As the service progressed Ada shifted in her seat, trying to concentrate on the beautiful age old words and ignore the registrar's peculiar delivery. She could sense everybody else struggling to do the same. Her hand was resting beside her on the chair. Hecate shifted a little too, her hand brushing against Ada's. Then just one of her fingers curled lightly around one of Ada's, and stayed there. 

_ For good spells and for bad… _ Ada closed her eyes and let herself get lost in the vows, not daring to look at Hecate in case it gave them away, but thrilling to and clinging to that one tiny point of contact. _ To love and to cherish… Until magic is no more. _

_ ...Who knows? Maybe one day this could be us… _

Hecate suddenly stiffened and turned to look up at the balcony, where some of the girls were watching from above. She let go of Ada, and with a quick apologetic glance, transferred away. No doubt she had spotted someone misbehaving. Ada rolled her eyes, and gave an amused huff despite her disappointment. Did Hecate _ ever _switch off completely?

_ She might have to. If she leaves… _ Ada banished the thought. They had two whole months before the start of the new school year. _ Surely _ Indigo would have turned up by then...

"...I now pronounce you... witch and wizard!" finished the registrar. He pushed in between the newlyweds and hurried away down the aisle, disappearing from view just as Hecate materialised in the doorway, looking suspicious. Ada saw her gaze shift to the couple now clasping each other at the front of the hall. Her face was suddenly wistful and her eyes met Ada's. Then an unfamiliar wizard appeared behind her.

"Sorry I'm late," he puffed. "What a climb! Right, shall we start the service?" There was a stunned silence, eventually broken by Algernon.

"...If he's the registrar... who was _ that?" _

~*~

Dimity had been craning her head on and off all through the ceremony. "Have you seen Julie?" she whispered. "I was sure Gwen said she was coming today." Ada frowned.

"She _ was _ here. I spoke to her just before it started. I'm not sure where she's disappeared to. I do hope she's not got lost again." Dimity leapt to her feet. 

"I'd better go and make sure she's alright."

Ada went over to kiss the bride. "Congratulations Gwen. I know you'll be very happy together. And you look beautiful." She lowered her voice. "And I'm very impressed that you persuaded Hecate to attend, and as a _ bridesmaid _ no less…"

"I thought it would do her good," said Gwen. "She's been far too wrapped up in punishing herself since that girl left. I thought she needed taking out of herself for a bit." She beamed. "And doesn't she look nice?" Ada bit her tongue.

"It's certainly a very _ striking _ outfit," she said. "Where did it come from?"

"It belonged to my great grandmother. She wore it for her inauguration as Grand High Witch. Of course, it is a _ little _old fashioned now. But some things never go out of style."

Ada made what she hoped with the right face, and moved on through the crowd, greeting friends here, introducing herself there, doing her best to be a gracious hostess.

She pacified the second registrar with a generous slice of cake and the promise of a sturdy spare broomstick to take him back down the mountain. He had already received his fee, so once the initial annoyance of the mix up had faded he was perfectly equable. She tried to find the first man and get a handle on the mystery but he appeared to have vanished entirely. She hoped Gwen and Algernon hadn't ended up being billed twice.

Ada noticed that Dimity had finally located Julie. The pair were heading off towards the refreshments, laughing together. 

"Well I'd better not drink on duty," Dimity said as they passed. "Got to keep my eye on the ball. But perhaps we could meet up in the pub tonight?" _ So nice that they're still friends _, thought Ada vaguely, wondering where Hecate had got to. Behind her, Julie took Dimity's hand and smiled.

Hecate was lurking in a nearby classroom. Ada sidled up to her.

"Nice outfit."

"Shut up."

"I particularly like the ruffles."

"Ada Cackle, if you ever mention this again I will personally poison your porridge." Ada's eyes twinkled. She cast a quick glance at the empty doorway and slung an arm briefly around Hecate's waist, pulling her close.

"Sorry love. You do still manage to look very distinguished. And I'm so very glad you could be there." Hecate's eyes softened and they smiled at each other, acknowledging the moment they had shared. Hecate lifted a hand and grazed her thumb over Ada's cheekbone, her gaze flickering over Ada's mouth. She ducked her head a little but then pulled back.

"I don't want to smudge your lipstick," she murmured. Ada _ absolutely _ wanted Hecate to smudge her lipstick. But the corridor was filling with noisy chatter as the guests began to make their way outside for photographs. Ada sighed and smiled.

"Maybe later."

It was time for them to take on their official roles again. Hecate pulled a face. 

"I don't want to go back out there wearing _ this." _She flourished a hand and the bridesmaid costume was replaced with her favourite high collared dress. Ada raised her eyebrows.

"Don't you think that might hurt Gwen's feelings a little?"

"It's her wedding day. Her feelings are fine." Ada made no further objection. But she also failed to mention that Hecate had forgotten to remove the flowers in her hair.

They walked slowly out into the courtyard, still talking in low voices as they went.

"Why did you disappear like that halfway through the ceremony?"

"I never got to the bottom of it but there was some sort of mischief going on. I _ swear _ Julie Hubble was up to something… I just couldn't catch her at it." Ada shrugged.

"Julie Hubble is perfectly innocuous now that she's lost her magic." Hecate pursed her lips.

"Honestly, dear. She's just standing around eating wedding cake with Dimity. Everything's going smoothly now. Although I can't think how we somehow manage to book two different registrars. I can't help thinking that the second man might have done a better job…"

"_ Might? _The first one was an incompetent fool. And I'm almost sure he had something to do with Ms Hubble."

"Whatever makes you think that?"

"You didn't notice his accent?" Ada wasn't sure what she meant.

"No. I must have been a bit distracted…" _ Too busy fantasising about marrying you... _

"He was as southern as you or I when he first walked through that door. And then during the vows he suddenly switched to sounding like the spitting image of Julie Hubble."

"Well dear, that _ is _the local accent. Perhaps he just got a bit more relaxed as the service went on?" Hecate was not convinced.

"She was watching him from the balcony, and she ran away as soon as I looked up at her. She was wearing the most peculiar headdress…" Ada very carefully didn't look at Hecate's flower crown. "Anyway, whatever Julie Hubble's involvement, I think we should report him to the Council." Ada squeezed her arm through the ruffles. 

"I'm not sure that's really necessary, dear. He was certainly a bit eccentric. But that can't be helped. The main thing is, Gwen's married now, and she's _so_ happy. Let's not cause ourselves any extra trouble."

"Perhaps you're right." Hecate's eyes had strayed to the castle wall, her mind clearly already beyond it. "I can't mingle for long, Ada. I ought to get back out there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a lot on at the moment and the next chapter is just a big tangled mess so it might be a while before the next update but it will happen, I promise!


	9. Ethel Hallow to the Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is long and angsty, I hope you're ready for it.

The final day of term had arrived with no sign of Indigo Moon. Hecate was sitting with Ada in the office finalising their travel plans for the next day. The other staff were all going away so they could shut down the Academy completely until either Indigo was found or Ada was forced to return alone for the start of the new school year. 

Pendle was curled up on Ada's feet and Hecate was running her fingers over and over Morgana's smooth head and burying them in the long soft fur of her neck. The cats would have to come with them of course, although they would probably resent leaving the luxury of the castle to sleep goodness knew where for goodness knew how long.

The sound of cheerful bustle filtered up from the courtyard as the girls left their luggage at the departure point and got ready for the prize-giving ceremony. Hecate was trying very hard not to think about how this might be the last time she and Ada would sit here together as colleagues, the last time Hecate would truly be a part of the Academy that had been her life for so many years. Of course Ada would always keep the job open for her, she would never hire a permanent replacement. But as Gwen had said, the longer they left it the further Indigo would go and - if she continued to block all attempts to find her by magic - unless they were fortunate enough to set out in the right direction early on it could conceivably be months or even years before Hecate managed to track her friend down. The thought of Ada sitting here with anybody else was almost unbearable. But Ada would have to return in time for September if she wanted to keep her beloved school. She had half-heartedly suggested applying for a sabbatical if Indigo didn't turn up in time but Hecate had talked her out of it. They both knew that after having to fight so hard to prove her worth to the Magic Council over the past couple of years that this suggestion would almost certainly result in Ada losing her position as headmistress. And that was something that Hecate absolutely would not allow.

Morgana's fur suddenly stood up on end and she gave a low growl just as Pendle shot off Ada's feet and leapt up into her arms, tail bristling, sparks crackling from his fur. The two witches exchanged concerned glances. Familiars were often the first to sense an incoming magical disturbance. A gust of wind rattled a branch against the window and Hecate realised the light had changed. Dark clouds were pouring in fast and there was something not quite right about the sun. Without bothering to confer, they tipped the cats onto the desk and simultaneously transferred outside. 

They both had to fight to complete the spell. There was a metallic tang in the air and it felt heavy and sticky with unfamiliar magic. This was something powerful, something big, and it wasn't coming from inside the Academy. The wind was howling around the castle, buffeting the girls and tearing down their end-of-term decorations. A bloody tinge had crept into the sky.

"Inside please, everyone!" Ada had to shout to be heard over the sound of the gale. They would have to lock down the castle and delay everybody's departure. There was no safe way to get down the mountain in a magical storm. 

The clouds were boiling into a giant vortex now, fizzing and sparking with electricity.

"There's somebody up there!" yelled Felicity Foxglove, who predictably had not stirred from the spot once she realised there was an interesting story to cover. And she was right. There was a tiny dark figure zooming out of the centre of the vortex, riding... was it a broom? No, it didn't look quite right. It seemed to have _ handlebars... _

Terrible laughter echoed through the sky as bolts of lightning came from the flying figure, narrowly missing the group of teachers. Everybody except Hecate ducked out of the way. But Hecate barely flinched, staring at their enemy with horrible recognition pulsing through her in a wave of nausea. It _ couldn't _ be... But it was.

_ "Indigo?" _ She moved a few steps forward.

"Indy!" cried Mildred, running forward in her turn. Indigo threw down another lightning bolt that almost hit her.

**"Hel** ** _lo _ ** **Cackle's!"** whooped Indigo, her magically magnified voice bouncing off the rooftops **, "Bet none of you thought I could do the weather spell, am I right?"**

"Indy!" Mildred yelled again. Her only answer was a lightning strike that knocked over half the girls' luggage.

"My cases!" mourned Felicity. "Those were _designer!" _

"What's _ wrong _ with her?" Enid screamed, running to join Mildred, who shrugged helplessly.

**"Here's the deal,"** boomed Indigo. **"I want HB. I'm going to turn ** ** _her_ ** ** to stone."** Even in the midst of her horror Hecate's heart warmed a little as not only Ada but all the rest of the staff rushed to put themselves between her and Indigo, holding out their arms to protect her. Of course she would have done the same for any of them without thinking twice about it but it was nice to know that that dedication was returned. She knew she wasn't the easiest colleague to have around. Ada's free hand was at Hecate's back, trying to reassure and hold on to her at the same time. But Indigo hadn't finished yet. **"And if you don't give me HB, then I'll wipe out the castle. Your choice. You've got thirty minutes to decide. One for each year ** ** _I _ ** **was a statue."** She spiralled up and away into the storm, leaving in her wake a jaunty rendition of the school song and a crowd of very frightened people.

Ada's voice rose above the storm, cracking a little with the effort of making herself heard. "Girls, to your rooms! Teachers, with me." She let go of Hecate and grabbed Mildred, who was staring dumbfounded at the disappearing Indigo. "You come too. Perhaps you can explain what on _ earth _ your friend is playing at?" 

Everybody was hurrying inside now. Hecate tried to follow them but her feet wouldn't obey her. Pins and needles prickled through her face and hands. Her heart was thumping so loud and fast in her head that she couldn't hear anything else.

It was all happening again. Only this time the school wasn't empty. Unless Hecate could unfreeze herself, wrench herself free from the panic that was threatening to overwhelm her, everybody here was going to die. _ Ada… _ where was Ada? If anybody could help her get back in control now, it was Ada. She just needed somebody to hold on to, to get her body and brain working together again.

But the headmistress had her hands full with shepherding students to safety, and it was Dimity, of all people, who noticed Hecate's plight, dragged her out of her trance, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders and pulling her towards the castle. Hecate clung to her gratefully, letting her weight rest on the other woman until she got her legs back under control. She couldn't stop craning her head around to stare back into the centre of the storm. Indigo was out of sight now but her voice still thundered down through the clouds. 

"** _When our days at school are over, let us think of them with pride…_ ** **."** Lightning flashed again. Dimity hauled Hecate inside and closed the door.

Hecate felt dazed as Dimity marched her along the corridor to catch up with the others. All this time they had been thinking of Indigo as a poor lost child and here she was proving herself to be a monster brimming with unimaginable power. How could they have got it so wrong? How could all their testing and research and observations have led them to believe that Indigo was no threat when she was now completely unhinged and proclaiming herself to be murderous? It just didn't make any sense. But it was happening all the same and there was no time to waste trying to understand it.

Ada was standing in the middle of a group of students and staff, looking around rather frantically. Her face cleared when she saw her last two colleagues approaching and her eyes locked with Hecate's. The message in them wasn't hard to read. _ I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I left you behind. _

She couldn't blame Ada for prioritising the pupils and just assuming that Hecate would be there half a step behind her. Because for the past two decades, she always had been. Any immediate threat to the school had always had them instantly united, thinking and moving almost as one. It had never been an issue before. 

She disentangled herself from Dimity, not meeting her eyes but lightly touching her shoulder in a brief acknowledgement of gratitude, and swiftly moved to stand in her rightful place at Ada's shoulder.

~*~

Ada let herself relax a little. She had been so afraid Hecate had stayed behind for some stupid noble sacrifice, had been just about to run out to stop her. She couldn't believe she hadn't even noticed Hecate wasn't there until she got inside. But with her safely by Ada's side again they could start to sort out this mess.

"I’m as confused as you are Miss Cackle!" said Mildred."I don't understand what she's doing."

Ada bit her lip. "Miss Hardbroom was always worried that Indigo’s magic would once again make her malevolent."

"But I thought those fears were unfounded," said Hecate quietly. Ada felt awful. She had believed so much in Indigo, and spent so much time trying to persuade Hecate to believe too. Now it seemed that somehow Hecate's initial terror had been the most appropriate reaction to the girl. 

"She would never do anything to hurt anyone," Enid protested.

"Come _ on _ everyone," interrupted Felicity, "She’s gone the same way as Mildred’s mum, crazier than a cauldron of coconuts. You only have to look at that contraption she’s riding again-"

"I told you to go to your _ room, _ Felicity Foxglove!" Ada snapped. It was already hard enough to think straight without the girls disobeying orders and weighing in uninvited. But Felicity stood her ground.

"My readers have the right to know what’s going on, Miss Cackle."

Ada supposed she had a point. The students were scattered all over the school by now. Felicity's blog could be an efficient way of keeping everybody safely up to date.

"Then tell them this," she said, trying to sound as authoritative as possible. "Indigo seems to have mastered some powerful magic, it is true. But she is just one girl! If we cast a protection spell upon ourselves, we can deal with her. We simply need the right ingredients." She led the way to Hecate's lab and opened the door.

It had been ransacked. Every table, every shelf, every cupboard was completely empty.

"My potions," whispered Hecate. "Where are all my potions?" She moved past Ada to examine the scene, eyes wide with shock.

Ada sighed. "...It seems you taught Indigo better than we thought, Mildred Hubble."

"I really didn’t teach her this, Miss Cackle," Mildred whimpered.

"So we can’t make protection potions," stated Dimity.

"We cannot make _ any _ potions," said Hecate, her voice a little higher than usual. Ada closed her eyes, trying to stay calm. There _ must _ be something they could do, something that Indigo had overlooked. The girl's magic was very powerful but she was almost untrained. Surely a group of experienced adults could come up with a plan to get the better of her? Ordinarily both she and Hecate would have been perfectly capable of producing defensive spells without the need for protection potions. But you couldn't just start hurling spells around in a magical storm. The air was already so charged with power that without the stabilising effects of a potion, attempting combat magic would be catastrophic. The whole place would be blown sky high.

Mildred was shaking her head. "This is not the Indy we know."

Felicity jumped in again. "Because the magic’s got her all messed up. You have to come from a witching family to be a witch - it says so in the Code. Why did you think you knew better, Mildred?" 

"Felicity, _ please!" _ said Ada in exasperation. If only everybody would shut up just for one minute then maybe she could-

"I will go outside and tell Indigo she must stop this now," Hecate announced.

"You will do no such thing," retorted Ada, cold with fear. "That is exactly what she wants."

"Indigo Moon is _ my _ problem," said Hecate determinedly. "It is too dangerous for anyone else."

Felicity's maglet began to chime.

"Miss Cackle! There are messages coming through from the girls, they say a pupil just went outside."

"What?!" _ For gods' sake, this is all we need. _

"They say it’s Ethel Hallow."

~*~

It _ was _ Ethel Hallow, a tiny defiant figure standing alone in the middle of the courtyard. Indigo was circling overhead. Ethel stood firm against the storm.

"Indigo Moon, you don’t belong here. And you never will!"

**"Ethel! How nice to see you!"**

"Ethel Hallow, _ come back!" _ shouted Hecate from the doorway, her nails biting into her palms until the blood came. She forced herself to stay engaged, to keep watching, although the sight of Indigo with that look in her eyes still chilled her to the bone.

"I said no-one else was to move!" cried Ada, and Hecate found Mildred ducking under her arm to see what was going on.

**"I never did get the chance to say good-bye." **Indigo struck Ethel with a bolt of lightning, knocking her to the ground.

_ "No!" _screamed Mildred. Hecate and Ada exchanged helpless glances as Indigo struck again and again. They both took a step towards the pair, having no spells ready and no clear plan in mind but unable to stand by and watch a pupil being attacked. And neither of them was going to let the other walk out there alone.

"...Ethel?" called Mildred. Something strange was happening. Ethel was absorbing the lightning, holding it within herself - and it wasn't hurting her. Hecate gripped Ada's arm and stopped her from moving any closer.

"She has a protection spell!"

Slowly, deliberately, Ethel got to her feet. She was holding a skein of light like a crackling cat's cradle between her fingers. She raised her face to Indigo, eyes burning with hatred, and stretched out her arms.

_ "Like bee to flower, like moth to flame, lightning go back whence you came!" _The stored lightning came out in a torrent of fire, streaming up to engulf her enemy. Indigo screamed, writhed - and disintegrated into a cloud of smoke. Hecate felt herself reeling as though the spell had struck her too.

_ "INDIGO!" _

~*~

Hecate's scream seemed to tear the world in half. The storm cut off and everything went very still. Ada reached for her hand, not caring who might see. But Hecate's fingers were limp and unresponsive in hers and she was still staring unmoving at the spot where Indigo had vanished. Mildred pushed past them and marched out to confront Ethel.

"Where is she, where's Indy?" Ethel gave her a slow smile. Mildred's eyes flashed. _ "Where's Indy?" _

Ethel shrugged and sauntered back into the castle, where there was a mob of cheering students crowding to meet her.

~*~

Dimity had immediately volunteered to help Hecate look for anything that remained of Indigo, and Algernon had gone with them, leaving Ada and Gwen to try and impose some kind of control over the chattering students.

Ada felt deeply uncomfortable as she watched Ethel basking in the admiration of her classmates. Of course, the girl had always lived for attention, but surely even Ethel Hallow wasn't so cold that she could just shrug off having taken somebody's life, even in self defence? Ada drew her aside.

"Ethel. You have shown incredible courage and resourcefulness today and we're all very grateful to you for saving us. But... what exactly did you _ do _ to Indigo Moon? You didn't... _ kill _ her?"

Ethel was all wide-eyed innocence.

"Of _ course _ not Miss Cackle. I could never do a thing like that. I don't know exactly what happened. I just shot her own spell back at her. I only did whatever she was trying to do to me. It was purely defensive. You know I wouldn't hurt a _ fly _ if I could help it. But I couldn't stand by and watch her destroy the Academy and hurt all my friends." She smiled virtuously and let herself be dragged away by a group of starry-eyed first years, all clamouring for her autograph.

~*~

Hecate and the others came back unsuccessful.

"We have searched the grounds," said Hecate, wringing her hands. 

"There's no sign of her," said Dimity. "It's like she was never here."

"Perhaps she's made a run for it?" Ada mused. They were interrupted by the sound of the girls milling around Ethel, who had struck a pose on the staircase and was doing her best to look modest.

_ "Speech! Speech! Speech!" _ chanted the girls. Ethel needed no further encouragement.

"I only did what anyone would have done. Luckily I've been doing extra study on my protection potions in my free time, meaning that I had my own potion, which Indigo Moon could not have known about." There was a burst of applause. "And yes," she continued, glancing at Ada, "I _ did _ tweak the spell so it was able not just to protect from lightning but _ throw it back. _ That may seem a bit harsh, but then again-" she smirked- "it was an _ awful _ rendition of the school song." The students laughed and clapped again. Hecate took a deep shuddering breath.

"The school song!" exclaimed Mildred, nearby. Hecate's attention was caught. She moved closer to listen and Ada came with her.

"What about it?" Enid asked.

"Indy _ never _ sang the real words to the school song," Mildred said. "Only the naughty ones which-"

"-She and I made up as girls," finished Hecate, with the tiniest ghost of a smile. Mildred nodded.

"Miss Hardbroom, I don't know what we saw in the sky but I don't think that was the real Indigo Moon." Hecate said nothing, obviously wanting very much to believe Mildred but not quite daring to hope.

_ "Ethel! Ethel! Ethel!" _ chorused the girls, while Ethel smiled and preened _ . _

"I'm sorry Mildred," said Ada, "I don't really follow. We all _ saw _ Indigo." She really had no idea what was going on at this point. But if there was one thing that Mildred had proved to have a talent for, it was assessing a situation with the eye of an artist, noticing all the little details and seeing a slightly different bigger picture from everybody else. In times of crisis, Mildred was worth listening to. Mildred looked around trying to collect her thoughts.

"But... she didn't _ behave _ like Indigo, did she?"

"And she was on the wrong broomstick," Enid chimed in. "She lost that one." Hecate was shaking her head, trying to come to terms with it all.

"Indy was cured of bad magic," said Maud. "She was trying to fit in and be good. She wouldn't put anyone in danger."

"Then _ who _ did we see up there hurling thunderbolts about?" retorted Hecate, voice choked with tears. Ada squeezed her arm and felt her tremble.

"It was like…" Mildred was casting around for inspiration again. "Like someone's _ idea _ of who Indigo is?" Her gaze shifted to Ethel, still chatting merrily with her admirers. "Someone who doesn't like her very much." Ada felt Hecate stiffening beside her. Could Mildred be right? Could Ethel have somehow engineered all this? Granted, she was very bright for her age but she couldn't possibly have been powerful enough to be behind everything that had just happened. _ Could _ she?

"I realise that some of you were disappointed by my actions made last year," announced Ethel, with a good show of humility. "I hope now I have restored the good name of the Hallows. A_ true _ witching family," she added, with a malevolent glance in Mildred's direction.

And Ada watched the pieces of the puzzle fall into place in Mildred's mind.

"I know what she wished for!" Mildred yelled, all at once the centre of attention. "_ This! _ She wished for this!" 

"What?" asked Ada, sure now that she was right but still trying to catch up. "Mildred…"

"What do you mean, wished?" Hecate broke in. Ethel seemed to shrink into herself.

"There's something Ethel isn't telling you," said Mildred in a small voice. "She and I took Miss Bat and Mr Rowan Webb's Wishing Star."

Ada gasped."You did _ what? _" She thought of how close she'd come to doing the same thing.

"Miss Bat said we could use it to help bring Indigo back," Mildred went on. Gwen nodded. "But Ethel took it for herself," said Mildred. "And now I know why.

"Ethel_ Hallow!" _exploded Gwen.

"She used the wish to make _ her _ the one who saved the school. The Wishing Star gave her something to save us _ from. _ A fake Indigo. Ethel's idea of a menace."

"Mildred Hubble," muttered Ethel warningly, though what she thought she could do to stop Mildred at this point was beyond Ada.

"All so you could be the teacher's pet again. If there's one thing Ethel Hallow _ did not _ do today it's save the school," finished Mildred, looking around and willing them all to understand.

Ada's first feeling was relief. Hecate hadn't lost Indigo again after all. She was still out there somewhere waiting to be found, still a normal girl who had nothing to do with the fear and destruction that had been going on at the school. There was still hope for a reconciliation. 

Then the anger came. How dare Ethel put Hecate through so much pain just to prove a stupid bigoted point? What if her plan had gone wrong? What if Ethel had made a mistake and not been able to fight off her own spell? She had endangered all their lives for the sake of her pathetic fake glory.

Ada saw little Sybil Hallow staring at her sister, eyes filling with tears as she absorbed what Ethel had done. The faces of the girls around her ranged from confused to incredulous to outright disgusted. One of the first years started tearing her autograph into strips. They fluttered out of her hand and flew away down the corridor on a sudden gust of wind blowing through the open door. The light dimmed as dull red clouds covered the sun. The storm was back.

And with the storm came the school song. **"** ** _Onward ever striving onward, proudly on our brooms we fly, straight and true above the treetops, shadows on a moonlit sky…" _ **

Except there was no room in this sky for shadows. The Wishing Star's incarnation of Indigo had returned as a giant disembodied head, filling all of the space above the castle.

Half the school seem to have followed the teachers outside. The girls cowered together under the face of their gigantic enemy, looking to Ada and Hecate for some kind of salvation. Hecate strode towards Ethel.

"Ethel Hallow," she called over the storm, "Where is that protection potion?"

"I only did one measure, Miss Hardbroom!" she admitted.

"You emptied my potions laboratory for _ that _?" Hecate screeched. Ethel looked at the ground.

The fake Indigo opened her mouth and - as though she were some huge distorted dragon - breathed out a great sheet of white fire. The bell tower exploded in a shower of sparks.

"DOWN TO THE KITCHENS, EVERYONE!"

Once more the teachers herded the students back inside, Ada making absolutely sure this time that Hecate was still with her.

**"What part of ** ** _HB or the school_ ** ** did you not understand?"** thundered the fake Indigo as they left. **"You've got fifteen minutes!"**

Ethel did not follow the others. She stayed where she was and faced her monstrous creation.

"Stop this! I don't wish this any more." She was almost hysterical in her panic. "_ I unwish it!" _

Fire rained down all around her and she would have been hit if Mildred hadn't sprinted back and pulled her to safety. The fake Indigo's horrible laugh followed them inside and echoed all the way into Ada's office.

~*~

"The Wishing Star is attempting to complete your wish," said Hecate, glaring at Ethel and pacing around the desk to stand with Ada. "It is giving you another chance."

"But I can't save the school," whimpered Ethel. "Not without a protection potion!"

"Did I not always warn you that Wishing Stars are not to be trifled with?" said Ada distractedly, running plan after useless plan through her head.

Ethel scrabbled to justify herself. "Well if Mildred Hubble hadn't fooled you all into thinking she was some kind of _ golden girl-" _

"Millie has never been that!" interrupted Enid. Ethel whirled around and scowled at her.

"She's got her own plaque in the hall hasn't she? She's lantern monitor isn't she?"

_ "Lantern monitor?" _ Enid's voice was dripping with scorn. "Who _ cares?" _

_ "I _ care," said Ethel, with tremulous dignity. "I care because she was asked and I was not. All because she saved the school _ one time."_

_"Three_ times," muttered Hecate.

"Miss Cackle," said Mildred urgently, ignoring them both, "We're running out of time!"

Ethel shrugged. "We'll just have to hand over Miss Hardbroom." Hecate drew herself up and stared as though Ethel were something unpleasant she had found on the sole of her shoe.

"That is _ not an option! _" snapped Ada, instinctively moving closer so that her shoulder pressed into Hecate's arm. "There is another possibility," she said slowly. "Prove to the fake Indigo that it is not real. That it is a sham!"

"How would we do that, Miss Cackle?" asked Maud.

"We would need to present it with the real Indigo Moon," whispered Hecate.

"She could be anywhere," objected Mildred. "We've been looking for days. There's no _ way _we can find her in time."

All the same, Ada automatically reached out for Indigo with a locating spell. She could see Hecate doing the same. Both of them winced as the storm cut each spell off with a buzz like an electric shock.

Hecate set her jaw. 

"There is only one thing to be done." Ada's heart sank. "Ethel was right," continued Hecate. "I shall give myself up and be turned to stone. That will satisfy the Wishing Star and you will all be safe." She turned on her heel and left the office. There was a second of stunned silence and then they all piled out into the corridor after her.

"Stop, Hecate!" wailed Ada, holding out her hands. Hecate did stop, but only because she had reached the front door. Her eyes were despairing but her voice was perfectly calm.

"We are almost out of time. I have to go."

"You can't go out there, Miss Hardbroom!" cried Mildred, helter-skeltering around the corner and clutching at Ada's outstretched arm for balance. Hecate didn't take her eyes off Ada.

"Does anyone else have a better idea? Any way of finding Indigo Moon? Then the matter is closed."

_ "Hecate-" _

"It's me or the whole school, Ada. She's made that perfectly clear. You know you'd make the same decision, in my place."

_ And you'd try and stop me, _Ada didn't say. She knew Hecate was right. It was simple mathematics. Hecate could walk out there now and die alone or stay here and die in a few minutes along with everybody else. But that didn't make it any easier for Ada to let her deliberately sacrifice herself.

"It doesn't have to be forever," Hecate said suddenly, cutting through Ada's churning thoughts. Ada couldn't imagine what she meant. Hecate had turned to Mildred. "Do you remember how to make that lichen potion?"

Mildred gaped at her, panicking at being put on the spot. "Maybe? I, I don't know! But there's no more lichen!"

"But you remember what it looked like. You could find some. _ Somewhere. _ Ask your ancestors for help." Her eyes moved to Ada's, and held them, fiercely. "You could bring me back to life, eventually. It _ wouldn't _ be forever."

"But... wouldn't that just start this whole thing up again?" Maud asked Ada. "I mean, once Miss Hardbroom stopped being a statue wouldn't the Wishing Star try and make the wish come true all over again?" Ada didn't reply, too busy trying to grasp the hope that Hecate was offering.

"That is a possibility," admitted Hecate. "But it's one you could prepare for. With an empty school and an adequate stock of protection potions it could be easily dealt with."

She had turned back to the door now, was fumbling with the handle, and Ada wasn't ready, wasn't ready to say goodbye, wasn't at all confident in her own ability to bring Hecate back to life. What if she couldn't track down this rarest lichen? What if the tiny witches couldn't help? What if this moment right now were the last time she would ever see the woman who meant more to her than anybody else ever had?

"Hecate, _ wait," _she whispered, but her throat was so dry that no sound came out. And Hecate opened the door.

The storm blew in, assaulting their senses so that at first, nobody noticed the little white dog sitting on the doorstep.

_ "Star!" _screeched Mildred, running to scoop him up. Hecate stayed in the doorway, looking around wildly, and Ada knew what she was thinking. Did this mean the real Indigo was here too? Had she come back to them in the nick of time? But she was nowhere to be seen. Hecate had taken half a step over the threshold when she was interrupted by a cry from Mildred. 

"Indigo's at my mum's!"

_ "What?" _ gasped Ada. Hecate finally turned back towards them and Enid Nightshade, _ gods bless her _, flung herself between Hecate and the door and slammed it shut.

They all stared at one another in the sudden quiet.

"Indigo's at my mum's," Mildred repeated, waving a piece of paper. "We just have to go and get her."

Ethel rolled her eyes. "No one can get through the storm!"

"Star did. Because he's a brilliant flyer. And I think Miss Hardbroom can too. Because she's brilliant at transportation spells." Hecate's eyes widened.

Ada was reeling with conflicting emotions. Because surely this was worse? Of _ course _ it was worse. At least the other plan had had some kind of get out clause. Whereas if Hecate failed to materialise there would be absolutely nothing Ada could do to save her. She felt as though her brain had turned to treacle. She couldn't think _ fast _enough, this was all happening too quickly.

But Mildred's plan still felt easier, somehow. Transference was _ familiar _. It was Hecate's trademark. Ada must have seen her do it thousands of times over the years. She had never had to watch her turn to stone.

Mildred spoke up again. "You're the only one who can do it, Miss Hardbroom." Ada knew she was right about that. But she couldn't bring herself to say so. Whichever terrible dangerous thing was about to happen to Hecate she didn't want to be the one who made it happen. She didn't want to have to live with the knowledge of having encouraged the wrong choice. 

Maud was watching her trustingly, still full of confidence in kind, unflappable Miss Cackle, who always knew what to do. But Ada didn't feel at all like that person right now.

Hecate hadn't moved since Mildred had made her suggestion. A whole range of expressions played across her face. Ada found herself able to read them almost as easily as if they were having a real conversation. It was actually easier to follow than the confused jumble in her own mind. Her efficient deputy was running through a cost-benefit analysis, trying to make a sensible impartial decision but getting sidetracked by her emotions. 

Volunteering to get turned to stone should break the spell and save the Academy. It would also mean instant oblivion and absolution from any more responsibility, which were probably quite tempting at this point. Everything would stop for a little while, maybe a long while. It would be up to other people to sort things out. But that would mean abandoning the real Indigo all over again. The friend she had sworn to bring home. How could she leave her out of the picture now that they had finally located her?

Attempting to reach her would mean confrontation and opening up and possible rejection. That thought was probably more frightening than trying to get through the storm. But if Indigo wouldn't listen, Hecate could still rush back and save them by being turned to stone. And if she _ did _ listen...

"Four minutes," said Maud quietly.

And - as Ada had known she would, as she always _ did _ , in the end - Hecate chose to take responsibility. _ A witch makes things go her way. _ Lips pressed into a thin line, she gave Mildred a curt nod, closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, drawing on her power. She changed her posture, straightening shoulders that had been hunched with anxiety, stretching her arms a little, flexing her fingers. Then she opened her eyes again and looked at Ada. 

_ She'll have to come back safely, _ Ada thought nonsensically. _ She'll _ ** _have_ ** _ to, because she never kissed me goodbye. _

That was maybe the worst thing in all of this, not getting to say an honest goodbye. Having to let Hecate leave without touching her, without voicing any of the frantic, frightened, fervent thoughts that were tumbling through her. Without saying anything at all, in the end, because after one burning look Hecate raised a hand and cast her spell.

~*~

At first nothing happened. Transference had never seemed so impossible. Even inside the castle, the air was crackling with the reawakened storm, creating a barrier that felt almost impenetrable. As Hecate tried to break through she felt herself fragmenting, becoming as insubstantial as smoke. She forced part of her consciousness into the perimeters of her body, pushing inwards, urging it to stay together while with the rest of her mind she concentrated ferociously on leaving Ada behind and throwing herself towards Indigo.

She could see three different places almost at the same time, each of them competing to fill her vision, ebbing and flowing and scattering and reforming as they fought to claim her. The first was the Academy and Ada's worried face surrounded by all the girls. The second was endless hungry darkness. And the third, the one she was so desperately trying to grasp, was the cheerful kitchen of Julie Hubble's flat, where she could see Indigo standing in front of a window lifting something to her face... a jar that looked very much like- ** _Fuck_ ** _ , it's forgetting powder. I can't let her do this, I have to get to her. _

But part of her was still back at the Academy being buffeted by the magic of the storm, and another part was beginning to float away into the yawning dark. Despite Mildred's unswerving faith in her, even Miss Hardbroom just wasn't quite powerful enough to do this alone. She needed somebody to reach out and physically anchor her to her destination. 

And somebody did. For the second time in half an hour, somebody unexpected reached out and held her steady. Julie Hubble grabbed her hand and pulled her fully into the kitchen then held it tightly to stop her falling. Indigo froze with a pinch of powder halfway to her face and gaped at them. Hecate fought for breath as well as balance. As soon as she had both under control she gasped "Thank you, Ms Hubble." Julie let go, eyes wide with astonishment. But Indigo had recovered from her surprise and turned her attention back to the forgetting powder. Hecate shrieked at her. "Indigo Moon, put that powder down at once! Put it down - _ please _." Indigo just stared. Hecate held out her hands in supplication. "Cackle's needs your help."

Indigo's face filled with disgust. _ "Seriously?" _

"What's wrong?" asked Julie. "Is Mildred ok?"

Hecate's gaze did not leave Indigo's face. "She will be if Indigo returns." For the first time since Indigo had come back to life Hecate dropped her guard completely and let the girl see the raw emotion in her eyes. Indigo was not impressed.

"You couldn't wait to get rid of me before!" She was almost shouting. "You gave me magic once because you needed a friend. When _ I _ needed a friend, where _ were _ you?" She lifted the forgetting powder back to her mouth.

Hecate threw the last remaining scraps of her dignity to the winds. If she had to grovel and beg to save Ada and the school then that was what she would do.

"I am _ sorry _ ! I am sorry for what happened to you and that I could not turn it back. And when you returned I had to face that guilt every time I saw you. It is true, I cannot be your friend, not like when we were young together. I am your _ teacher _ now, Indigo." Her voice cracked. "And I will not let you down _ ever _ again. Time is running out. Put the powder down, _ please. _ And trust me." Despite her desperation Hecate felt a strange sense of release as she spoke. She realised that _ this _ was what she had been wanting to say all along. The words had always been there inside her. She had just had no idea how to let them out.

Indigo looked more unsure now but she was still scowling. "You only want me to come back to help your precious school!" 

Hecate swallowed.

"I have been out searching for you every day since you left," she said quietly. "Please, Indy-" she saw her old friend's eyes widen at the use of her nickname- "Please come home."

~*~

"It's time," whispered Maud. Thunder crashed. Ada and Mildred led the way to the front door and they all stood looking out. 

**"Here I come, ready or not!"** boomed the fake Indigo, normal size again and flying out of the eye of the storm at breakneck speed, pulling off a flawless transference spell to stand in the centre of the courtyard. **_"Bring me HB!"_** She had not bothered to take the magnifying spell off her voice. With her this close, it was almost deafening. 

"Where _ is _ she?" whined Ethel, as though this whole thing weren't entirely her fault.

**"Fine,"** said fake Indigo flatly. **"Then you've made your choice."** With no more warning than that lightning began pouring out of her. She was aiming high, concentrating on the towers and battlements first, and they crumbled and shattered with every strike. The whole castle trembled and they could hear the rest of the girls screaming in the kitchen. Ada didn't know what to do. She would have willingly offered to sacrifice herself to stop this if she had thought it would do any good. But this Wishing Star creation was doggedly single-minded and she could see it would make no difference. Fake Indigo was programmed to destroy either Hecate or the entire school. There were no other options, unless by some ever more unlikely miracle Hecate managed to return with the real Indigo and break the spell. But even if Hecate found the right words and persuaded Indigo to come with her, the storm was still raging overhead and what if she wasn't strong enough to transfer them back through it? Ada pushed that thought away. Indigo's magic was still incredibly powerful. Possibly even more powerful than Hecate's. The two of them together would be able to get back in. Of course they would… If only they weren't too late. There must be _ something _she could do to buy a little more time, some kind of distraction...

Without warning Mildred left her side and dashed out into the storm. Fear clutched at Ada's heart. She screamed at the girl to come back, knowing that she wouldn't, knowing that she never did. So she followed her. She was dimly aware of Maud and Enid pounding along in her wake. She probably hadn't run this fast in fifty years.

"You're not the real Indy!" Mildred yelled.

**"Oh aren't I?"**

"No! You're just magic, Wishing Star magic!" The fake Indigo raised her arm, lightning streaking from her fingertips. Ada, out of breath, arrived just in time to push Mildred aside. The spell hit her instead. One side of her face became cold and numb. _ Stone. I'm going to turn to stone. _ She could feel the terrible dead greyness of it spreading down her neck and into her shoulder. _ Oh Hecate, where are you? _

The heavy grey chill crept over her back and she dropped to her knees with the weight of it, just as Hecate materialised nearby.

"Mildred Hubble is right for once!" She willed the real Indigo into existence beside her. "This evil copy is no more real than a _ hologram _!" 

Ada saw the heart-stopping dread in Hecate's eyes at the sight of the stone in her flesh. She tried to silently signal reassurance. _ Keep going, love. Please don't get distracted. I'll be alright. I need you to focus. You can fix this, you can fix everything. _

But Hecate was transfixed by Ada's condition, and it was Mildred who moved things forward while the two Indigos were arguing.

"If you're the real Indy, then you know the words to the school song?"

**"Of course I know. ** ** _Onward, ever striving onward-"_ **

"No," said Mildred. "The version you and Joy used to sing." For the first time, the fake Indigo's supreme confidence wavered. She looked baffled.

Mildred and Indigo exchanged a glance. Then Indigo nodded and began to sing.

_ "Onward, ever skiving onward, proudly in our rooms we lie-" _ by the time she reached the second line she was no longer singing alone. Hecate had joined in. 

_ "Zoom like rockets through the treetops, breaking rules as we whizz by!" _Her voice rang out confidently and there was a light in her eyes as she saw the fake Indigo's increasing uncertainty. 

_ "Ne'er a teacher goes before us, who we will not prank our best…" _Ada saw Hecate reach out and take a firm grip on Indigo's hand. Her heart swelled with love for them both.

Did it all come down to this, she wondered. Could they really be saved by a song? Did it all come down to some alternative lyrics written by a couple of naughty school girls thirty years ago? Despite the seriousness of the situation, she couldn't help breaking into a small smile with the good half of her face at the sight and sound of her straight-laced deputy headmistress heartily singing this scandalous version. How had it stayed in her memory all these years?

_ "Keep our cauldrons smelling awful, cast our spells with cheek and jest!" _

Mildred, Maud and Enid were singing too now, and they had all joined hands to form a defiant chain, a barrier between the fake Indigo and the school. Ethel moved a little closer to them but stayed lurking in the background, not knowing if or how she could participate. Ada would have loved to join in but she did not know the words. Besides, it was all she could do to stay vaguely upright now as she felt the stone spell spreading down one hip and into her leg. She kept her eyes fixed on Hecate, beautiful brave Hecate, who had faced so much darkness and still come out victorious.

_ "Full of yawns we mix our potions, and whatever we decide, when we turn Miss to a froggy let us think of it with pride!" _

The fake Indigo shimmered and swayed and dissolved to a point of bright blue light that hung in mid air. _ The Wishing Star. _

Ada reached out her good hand and scooped it up, clutching it tightly so the magic could not escape. She felt the stone fall away from her, warmth and softness returning to her body as though she had just stepped out into the sunlight. In fact the clouds _ were _ whirling away now, the apocalyptic nightmare sky returning to a tranquil blue as the sun shone down on what was left of Cackle's Academy. Ada heard cheering and whooping from the girls down in the kitchen.

And Hecate was smiling at Indigo Moon. It was a smile Ada had never seen before, easy and affectionate and… _conspiratorial. _It looked surprisingly at home on her face. Indigo wore the same expression. For an instant, they looked exactly the same age, best friends and partners in crime once more. Then all at once Hecate's face crumpled back into anxious lines. She squeezed Indigo's hand before letting go and rushing to help her fallen headmistress.  
"Ada, your _face._" She cradled it in one hand. Ada let her own hand come up to cover Hecate's for a moment.

"Ssh, it's fine now, I'm fine."

"Really?"

"Really."

The girls had all been too busy hugging one another and congratulating themselves to notice this exchange, but sooner or later somebody was going to start paying attention again. Ada felt an overwhelming desire to collapse against Hecate and burst into tears. But for now, she must try to stay professional and take command of the situation. This was her school. The girls would be just as shaken as their teachers. She couldn't just switch being headmistress on and off whenever she felt like it.

The sun grew stronger and illuminated the shattered rooftops and the rubble lying underfoot. The air was full of dust. The girls stopped their excited chatter and stared at the damage.

"Evil me did this?" whispered Indigo.

Maud turned to face her headmistress. "We'll all help rebuild, Miss Cackle. Even if it means coming back in summer." Ada felt a rush of affection for the girl. She could see Maud perhaps running her own Academy one day.

"That's just Maud's little joke, Miss Cackle," said Enid hurriedly. Ada felt her palms pulsing with the power of the captured spell. She smiled.

"Don't worry girls. I think we finally have a worthwhile use for a Wishing Star." She held her cupped hands out in front of her.

_ "Starlight, star bright, star of great and boundless might, our beloved Academy now restore, make it as it was before." _Ada released the magic in a great flash that strobed across the sky and began to settle on the rooftops, restoring everything it touched. Hecate reached for her hand as the girls all turned away to see the effect of the spell. Hecate's face was transformed with joy as the clutter of bricks and broken tiles soared back up into place and Ada felt as though she were flying too in that moment. They exchanged a long look that said more than any words could have accomplished. Then they quickly dropped their hands as the rest of the school began to make their way out of the castle.

When Hecate moved off to speak to Ethel, Ada turned to Indigo and gave her a tight hug. 

"Thank you so much for coming back to save us. You didn't have to do that." Indigo shuffled her feet.

"I couldn't exactly say no."

"You could. You chose not to. That means a great deal." Ada sighed. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about Joy." Indigo shrugged. 

"It wasn't your fault. Not your secret to tell. I get that now."

"Indigo, you'd already earned your place here before all this happened but I should like to offer it to you again now, and I really hope you'll accept it." 

Indigo glanced at Hecate, who was walking back towards them. She smiled.

"Yeah. I mean yes, please. I'd really like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was really hard to write, there's so much going on that it felt like wrestling an octopus. And I totally ran out of ways to describe People Exchanging Significant Glances During Thunderstorms.
> 
> I should maybe apologise for turning Ada to stone. It's not like we hadn't had more than enough angst by that point. But in canon she just stands around doing nothing for ages and I wanted to bring her back into the action. And all's well that ends well, right? 
> 
> If you read this far, well done, and thank you. One more installment coming in the next week to (hopefully) tie up the loose ends...


	10. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After last week's season finale angst-fest I am pleased to present you with 4401 words of happy ending.

Ada had insisted that she and Dimity could oversee the girls' departure, and sent Hecate and Indigo off to the herb garden to spend some quality time together.

"What I wouldn't give to be a fly on that wall," said Dimity, looking wistfully after them.

"They are entitled to their _ privacy _ ." Ada spoke rather more snappily than she intended, as she had just resisted the same temptation. Although what she _ really _wanted was to send everybody else away so that she could have Hecate all to herself and they could hold each other without letting go until they'd had time to get their heads around the fact that they were both still alive. She couldn't stop seeing the way Hecate had flickered in and out of existence as she tried to transfer.

Dimity was unfazed by her irritation.

"What's going on with you and HB anyway? Have you finally admitted you're besotted with each other?"

"_ I'm _entitled to my privacy too." But this time Ada's voice came out much less severe than she had meant it to, and she couldn't help smiling self-consciously. 

"_ Hah!" _ Dimity pumped her fist. "I _ knew _it! About bloody time." Ada could feel herself blushing. She wouldn't usually have let a member of staff speak to her like that, but everyone's boundaries were a bit blurry after the horror of the day. And Dimity was always at her most exuberant just after a crisis.

"Just... go and make sure everyone has the right cats, ok?" Dimity sloped off, smirking all over her face.

Clearly they hadn't been quite as subtle as they thought they had.

~*~

Dimity was by her side again as the last little pointy-hatted figures disappeared over the horizon.

"I've been talking to Gwen. They don't feel quite equal to flying off for their honeymoon today after all. Quite understandable really. But they're a bit down about it, they were booked into their favourite restaurant for this evening. I thought we should arrange a nice meal for them tonight, maybe a little party? Gods know we could do with one!" Ada beamed. 

"What a lovely idea! But Miss Tapioca and the kitchen staff have all gone home. It will have to be something we can sort out for ourselves."

"No worries." Dimity grinned. "We can have a barbecue. Shall I nip down into town and get some supplies?"

"You do that. I'll set a table and come up with some nice decorations. And… yes... you concentrate on the first course. I have an idea for dessert." She added a few things to Dimity's shopping list and went off to do a quick inspection tour of the castle to make sure everything was as it should be.

There was no chance of the day's events being kept out of the newspapers, thanks to Felicity's blog. That was another storm she and Hecate would have to weather over the next few weeks. As she cast diagnostic charms to check the safety of the building, part of her mind was already assembling a battalion of arguments for their defence. But this time the blame did not lie entirely within the Academy. Like it or not, Egbert Hellebore would have to admit responsibility for his habit of handing out dangerously powerful potions to try and impress people, as well as for his "unbreakable" spell that had been cracked by a thirteen year old. This latest incident had certainly shown Ada once and for all that her office was _ not _ the place to keep any other Wishing Stars that might fall into her hands. 

She thought that she and Hecate between them could probably deal with the Magic Council. Pippa Pentangle would come to their defence. And at least this time there would be no Ursula Hallow spearheading a campaign against them. She had been demoted thanks to her actions the previous year and even her high-placed friends could hardly act against the Academy now, when it was Ursula's own daughter who had almost got everybody killed. Ada had sent Ethel home without having made a decision about letting her return the following year. That was another thing that would need careful consideration.

But overall, this would be nothing they couldn't handle. And then they could relax into spending some quality time together as a couple for once. Maybe they could even go on holiday… Ada stopped arguing with the Great Wizard in her head. Once she was satisfied that the building was safe, she let herself drift into happy daydreams of sunbathing and seaside cafes and interesting little second hand bookshops... 

  
  
~*~

Hecate sighed and leaned against the back of the bench. She and Indigo had talked and talked until their throats were sore. Now they were sitting together in comfortable silence watching the bees moving between the flowers. A bat flitted over the wall and Hecate wondered idly what it was doing out so early. Then it flew directly towards them and dropped into her lap. A messenger bat. Indigo squeaked in surprise; she had never seen one before. 

“This is how we always sent messages before the maglet,” Hecate explained. She unfolded the paper. 

_ We are having a celebratory meal in the rose garden. Bring Indigo along whenever you’re ready. _

_ Ada. _

She meant to send the note into vanishment, but at the last moment she changed her mind and transferred it to her desk drawer instead. She didn’t like throwing away anything sent by Ada.

“Come on,” she said, standing up, “Time to eat.”

None of the flowers lining the walls of the rose garden were as impressive as the ones still adorning Ada's office, Hecate thought smugly, but it was still a pleasant place to eat. And with Algernon around they didn't have to worry about keeping any insects away from the food. Dimity had returned with enough meat and alcohol for a small army, and was now bustling around in a cloud of deliciously scented smoke, humming under her breath. As Indigo rushed to investigate the sizzling barbecue, Hecate took the opportunity to have a few moments alone with Ada. They had not had a chance to speak in private at all yet and Hecate was still trying to banish the image of Ada being forced to her knees by the spreading of the stone, her soft lovely body turning cold and grey.

“Are you _ sure _ you’re alright?”

“Yes, love, honestly.”

“When I saw you turning to stone…”

“I know. I’m sorry you had to see that. It must have been awful for you.” Ada grimaced. “I can’t say I enjoyed it much myself,” she added. “It’s not a nice feeling." She took Hecate's arm in a grip that was almost painful, gazing at her with eyes that still held a trace of fear, and Hecate realised that she wasn't the only one who needed reassurance of the reality of their safety. Ada had almost lost her too, over and over again. They would both be tormented by memories of today for years to come. But Ada was smiling now, speaking again.

"Oh Hecate… just… _ well done! _ I am so, so proud of you my darling. For transferring through that storm, for bringing Indigo back, for singing your heart out to save us all.” 

As always, Hecate's first instinct was to squirm and shrug off the praise, to look away and murmur something non-committal, change the subject. But for once she thought _ No, hold on. I did all those things. I deserve this. I did something to be proud of. _

So she let herself keep looking at Ada, who was beaming up at her, eyes shining with pride and happiness. And she let herself smile shyly back, because the sight of Ada there, surrounded by roses and glowing pink in the early evening sunlight was so heart-rendingly beautiful. Hecate felt a little of the day's tension begin to drain away. _ This is Ada, here, now, warm and alive, and this is me... whoever I might be now. We’re safe and we’re together and… and maybe that’s not going to change. Maybe I’m not going to mess this up. Maybe I do know how to be the other half of somebody else. _

“...Although,” said Ada, bringing Hecate back to earth with a twinkle in her eye, “As your headmistress, I shall absolutely have to discipline you for desecrating the school song.” Hecate went pink. Ada’s mock severity was inspiring ideas that were entirely inappropriate in the company of their colleagues and a student. Ada’s grin widened. The effect she was having had not escaped her. She was clearly enjoying it very much. Hecate went even pinker. Her dress suddenly felt too tight. She hoped she wasn’t always this easy to read. Some of the thoughts she had been indulging in recently were _ not _ ones she wanted displayed on her face for all to see. She found herself thinking _ I'll pay you back for this, Ada Cackle, _ and then was covered in confusion at her own daring. She was quite relieved when Indigo ran back and said that the food was ready.

~*~

"So, Indigo," said Algernon, "What are your plans for the rest of the summer?" Indigo poured herself some more lemonade.

"Mildred and her mum are going caravanning in Devon for two weeks at the end of July. They said I could go too, if I wanted."

Hecate was sure her expression made it perfectly plain that she could think of nothing worse than spending a fortnight stuck in a caravan with the Hubbles, but with admirable self-restraint she only said "That sounds very… nice." Indigo snorted into her drink.

"You'd _ hate _ it! But I'd like to go. I've never been in a caravan. And then we thought we could travel on to Cornwall to see Enid's parents performing at the Camelot Festival - Maud will be there too - and _ then _it'll be Mildred's birthday party so I'd like to stay for that… but-" she bit her lip - "There will still be a few weeks when I have nowhere to go..." 

"Don't worry," said Ada. "We don't normally allow girls to stay in the castle over the summer holidays but I think in your rather unique situation everyone will agree that we can bend the rules a little. We'll just have to arrange for there to be somebody here at the right times to keep an eye on you." 

"Well don't look at me," said Dimity through a mouthful of steak. "The Star of the Sky is going on tour tomorrow. _ Internationally, _" she added proudly. Hecate rolled her eyes. 

"Yes, you've been saying. All term." She cleared her throat. "We've agreed that I will arrange to become Indigo's legal guardian until she is of age, so I will take responsibility for her wellbeing." Her eyes sought Ada's approval. _ Is that ok? You don’t mind? _She need not have worried. Ada looked as though Christmas had come early.

"She'll need her own room of course," said Gwen. "She can't go on sharing with Mildred Hubble forever."

"I thought," Hecate said tentatively, "that maybe we could put her in Esmerelda Hallow's old room?" Indigo wrinkled her nose.

"I'm not sleeping anywhere that used to belong to a _ Hallow!" _Hecate was rather hurt. She had meant it as a mark of honour.

"Esmerelda was _ nothing _ like her sister!” she exclaimed. Ada gave her knee a comforting squeeze under the table and Hecate's indignation was forgotten as she felt heat coiling inside her so strongly that she tuned out of the conversation for a moment. ...It seemed that a day spent almost dying had left her feeling riotously alive all over.

"Perhaps Fenella Feverfew's room, now she's left us for Pentangles?" Ada was saying when Hecate forced her attention back again. "That has the advantage of being on the same floor as the rest of Indigo's class."

"She'll need a familiar of her own as well," Dimity pointed out. "What about one of Maud's accidental kittens?"

"Perfect!" exclaimed Ada. "You can have a look at them tomorrow, Indigo, and choose the one you like best. And I expect you'll want to go shopping for some leisure clothes now it's the holidays."

Indigo looked a little worried. "I do need to. But I'm thirty years behind the times. What do people my age _ wear _these days?" 

Hecate sniffed.

"The same frivolous nonsense they have always worn. You'll be fine." 

Ada smiled at the girl. "Ask your friends which shops to go to. We have a budget for students in difficult circumstances so you don't need to worry about the cost. We'd better get you your own spell books and equipment as well."

"Um…" said Indigo, "I'm going to need a new uniform too. I might have sort of... thrown mine in the river, after I ran away…" Dimity, several beers in by now, exploded with laughter, and to Indigo's surprise and obvious relief, the rest of the staff joined in. Hecate hadn’t laughed that healthily and spontaneously in a long time. That night in Ada’s office she had been slightly hysterical, whirling with overwhelming emotion and not entirely sure whether she was laughing or crying. She had forgotten how it felt to let yourself laugh simply because something was _funny_. 

"I suppose that's no more than we deserved," said Ada. "We'll add a new uniform to the list."

"I have a lot of shopping to do too," mused Hecate. "I'm quite looking forward to billing Ursula Hallow for restocking the entire Potions laboratory..." She _ was _looking forward to sending that bill, and hoped very much that Ethel’s parents would punish her appropriately for the loss. It being the end of the school year, the emptying of the stock cupboard was not as serious as it might have been - she had been running low on a lot of ingredients already. But the thought of all those meticulously brewed potions discarded on the petty whim of a selfish child made her feel slightly sick. It wasn’t just the general school supplies that had gone, she had lost everything brewed in her private research as well.

"I can help you make new potions," said Indigo cheerfully. Hecate raised her eyebrows.

"You can _ watch _ me. And you can take notes. It will be a good opportunity to improve your embarrassing Potions scores before next term."

"Ok," said Indigo, completely unabashed. "Can I at least do some stirring?"

"We'll see."

~*~

Dimity frowned. "I don't understand why the potions didn't come back when you fixed everything else, Ada?"

"My spell could only fix the damage that had been directly caused by Ethel's wish. It appears that she emptied the Potions lab separately so I was unable to restock it."

Ada knew Hecate hadn't had time to process the loss of her stores yet and that it would be very painful for her. But she knew also that time spent on all that sourcing and preparing and simmering might ultimately be just what Hecate needed to help her come to terms with all the difficult emotions of the last few months. She made a mental note to spend some time in the lab this summer while Hecate was brewing. She loved watching her confidence within that space, her hips unconsciously swinging as she moved between cauldrons, her hands so sure and capable, her face so rapt with concentration… _ Just as well Indigo's going to be hanging around too. Or else I might never give Hecate the chance to do any actual work… _

This enticing train of thought was broken by Algernon leaning back in his chair and rubbing his stomach with a sound of deep contentment.

"I couldn't eat another thing. Not even a fruit fly!"

"You might regret that," announced Dimity. "Ada's made the most amazing dessert. Go on Ada, bring it out." 

Ada was feeling rather shy about this now, but she waved her hand and transferred her creation from where it had been sitting under a cooling spell in the kitchen. There was a general murmur of approval.

Alternate scoops of pink and white ice cream were arranged in a towering pyramid decorated with raspberries and mini meringues. Perched on top in a nest of rose petals were two tiny perfect sugar frogs. She was particularly proud of the frogs. They had taken some careful spell work, besides making it look as though the whole thing were simply a celebration of the newlyweds instead of a secret gift for the woman she loved.

Gwen clapped her hands with delight. "Oh Ada! It's _ beautiful! _What flavour is it?" Ada could feel herself blushing slightly. 

"The white one's lemon and the pink is raspberry." Indigo's eyes brightened as she remembered telling Ada all about her last happy day with Joy and their trip to the ice cream shop. She opened her mouth to say something but Ada mouthed "Ssh" and Indigo nodded and kept quiet.

Hecate's gaze moved from the dish to Indigo and then to Ada. Tears welled in her eyes, and there was such pure happiness beyond them that Ada could almost have cried herself. Hecate reached for her under the table and laced their fingers together, stroking her thumb over the back of Ada's hand.

"Well come on!" Dimity broke the spell. "Are we going to eat it or just sit around staring until it melts?"

Hecate ate three helpings.

~*~

"Miss Drill, would you mind helping Indigo move into her new room?" Hecate asked. "Miss Cackle and I have one or two things to see to in the office." This was news to Ada, but she wished Indigo a pleasant night's sleep and followed her deputy down the corridor and into her office.

Hecate reached past her and turned the key in the lock. Before Ada had time to be surprised, her back slammed into the door as Hecate's body pinned her against it, her hands cradling Ada's head so it wouldn't get bumped. Hecate's mouth came down on hers, hot and insistent and so fierce that Ada went weak at the knees. At first she was too stunned even to respond, then her body bypassed her brain and made her kiss back, wrapping her arms around Hecate's waist, arching against her and relishing the feeling of Hecate's tongue in her mouth, her fingers now tracing the line of Ada's neck, now sliding down her arms, caressing her waist, digging into her hips - and then slipping around behind her to press their bodies even more tightly together. She could feel Hecate's heart fluttering against her own chest. After what seemed like forever and no time at all, Hecate ended the kiss, but she did not let go. They stood there, faces inches apart, both breathing hard, and all Ada could do was smile dazedly as Hecate dragged her gaze up from her lips to meet her eyes and whispered "That was for the ice cream." Ada raised her eyebrows and her smile widened.

"I am _ definitely _ going to make you ice cream more often from now on."

Hecate's eyes sparkled and she actually _ giggled _ before raising a hand and snapping her fingers to transfer them both right onto Ada's bed.

~*~

They had forgotten to close the curtains. Slivers of early morning light were slanting through the trees outside the window. Ada lay on her back and watched them slip slowly sideways as the sun rose, tiger-striping their skin with fiery ribbons. Well, mostly her skin. Hecate appeared to have felt the cold sometime in the night and was now curled up fast asleep in one of Ada's voluminous pink nightgowns, her hair spiralling out over both their pillows, tickling Ada's neck. She wanted to reach out and touch her, run her palm over the smoothness of Hecate's bare arm, lay a trail of kisses down her neck and over the shoulder that had just slipped out of the too-big nightgown. But she looked so completely peaceful lying there and Ada didn't want to wake her. She wasn't sure she had ever seen Hecate looking truly at peace before, truly comfortable in her own skin. Best to let her rest. Yesterday had been so exhausting and they hadn't given each other much time for sleep last night. Flashbacks were swirling through her mind now, making her bite her lip to keep from laughing aloud in sheer incredulous delight.

_Hecate's fingers, her lips, her teeth, her tongue, all creating sensation upon sensation until Ada's whole body was singing with rapture._

_ Hecate lying back and just letting Ada look at her, all dark eyes and wild hair and long limbs glowing in the moonlight. _

_ Hecate's body arching to meet her touch, Hecate on top and underneath and inside and all around her as they finally broke free of twenty years of restraint. _

Ada sighed in happy remembrance as the images continued to slide by. She felt her eyelids growing heavy again. Carefully, so as not to disturb her, she moved Hecate's hair out of the way and snuggled closer again, drifting back into sleep herself with a smile still on her face.

~*~

Ada was still smiling in her sleep when Hecate woke several hours later. She lay for a long time just looking at her in all her delicious nakedness, trying to relax into the knowledge that she really was allowed to look now, and that Ada wouldn't mind in the slightest if she were to wake up now and catch Hecate staring. In fact she would probably be quite pleased.

One corner of Hecate's mouth twitched smugly upward as she noticed the pink lines left by her own fingernails running over Ada's shoulder and - she propped herself on one elbow to see further - yes, all down her back too. She wasn't sure why this pleased her so much. Something to do with having marked her territory perhaps.

Because Ada _ was _ her territory now. She belonged to Hecate, and Hecate belonged to her, in a way that they had never quite achieved before last night. It wasn't just the sex, though of course that had brought them a lot closer. It was Hecate having found the courage to take up some of the strands of her lost self and start weaving them back into the whole again. 

She would have to work gently and carefully, just as Indigo had shown her with the threads of the friendship bracelet so long ago. She had made a very good start but there was no hurry. If something didn't seem to fit she could unpick it and start again and know that Ada would be there with her, holding the ends of all the threads safely in her heart so that Hecate could never unravel completely. She had been right before. She could never be Joy Hecate Hardbroom again. But she had also been wrong. Because she thought maybe she _ could _ manage to be Hecate Joy.

From now on, she would be a little more relaxed, perhaps, a little more spontaneous… And, if the way she was feeling right now were anything to go by, immeasurably happier than plain Hecate had ever been.

Outside the window a bird gave a long chattering alarm call, no doubt being stalked by one of the cats. Ada gave a little moan and screwed her face up at the noise, looking so adorable that Hecate couldn't resist leaning down and kissing her awake. This cheered Ada up considerably, and she was beaming when they broke apart.

"Morning," she murmured. "Or is it afternoon already?" Hecate reached for her pocket watch and flipped it open.

"Not quite. Though I suppose we ought to get up soon. Indigo will be hungry." 

They heard a bark and a _ "Ssh!" _ from outside. Hecate pulled Ada's nightgown closer around her and went to the window. She was just in time to see Indigo and Star strolling around the corner, accompanied by a floating hamper containing all the leftovers from the party. She laughed softly and headed back to bed. Indigo was clearly going to be happily occupied for quite some time.

Ada smiled as Hecate settled back down beside her, and ran a hand over her sleeve.

"Pink is a really good colour on you, you know." Even this new version of Hecate wasn't going to voice agreement with such a radical statement, although she had caught sight of her reflection in the mirror as she passed and Ada did have a point. So she smiled back and let her eyes travel over Ada's body.

"I quite like your outfit too. You should wear it more often." Ada spluttered with laughter and hooked her legs over Hecate's, pulling her closer and tucking an arm around her waist. She kissed Hecate's shoulder.

"What are we going to do with ourselves now that we don't have to spend the summer searching for Indigo?" she asked. "I know you've got your lab to sort out. We will have to spend some time pacifying the Magic Council. And I know Indigo is going to be here quite a lot and that's lovely. But we'll have a whole three weeks on our own, with no responsibility to anybody else. We could go _ away _ together, Hecate, in August, somewhere warm…"

"I'm afraid I'm already booked into a week-long Advanced Potions conference at the beginning of August. I was planning to cancel when Indigo disappeared but I can't really get out of it now, I'm presenting a paper and I'm on two of the panels. You're more than welcome to accompany me though." Ada's face fell a little.

"That wasn't _ exactly _ what I-"

"It's in a 5-star hotel in the South of France."

_ "Oooh!" _

Hecate couldn't help smirking at her excitement. Being able to provoke this reaction was something she wanted to spend a_ lot _more time exploring. Especially while Ada had no clothes on.

"We could always go on somewhere else afterwards. But you can lie on the beach while I'm attending lectures. I'm only interested in about half the program so we'll have plenty of free time for…" She trailed her fingertips lazily over Ada's bare stomach, relishing the way Ada's breath caught at her touch. "... Whatever we want."

They lay there grinning at each other like a pair of teenagers, too happy to talk any more, too happy to do anything except marvel together at all the strange and wonderful changes this year had brought them.

It was going to be a glorious summer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's how my s3 headcanon ended up. I hope it treated you well.
> 
> I know a lot of people didn't like the direction of s3 much. I wasn't sure about it myself at first. But I thought I'd try going along with the main storyline and fixing the smaller stuff I didn't like, eg: 
> 
> \- Pointless 30-year confinement  
\- General incompetence of teaching staff  
\- Nobody really giving a shit about Indigo  
\- Pippa and Indigo apparently being around at the same time  
\- No aftercare for Julie Hubble (and there was no way on this earth she was ending up with Marvin fucking Pringle)  
\- Hackle not being onscreen every single second (I mean I love the kids but nothing will persuade me they are the main characters)
> 
> And I thought I'd try adding in some more realistic emotional reactions to what happens. Which did lead to a LOT of angst, sorry about that.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you've had fun. I certainly have. I have also accidentally started writing three more stories....

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first proper story I've written so I'm still finding my feet and feedback would be very much appreciated :)


End file.
